


Lux Nova

by goddess_of_time_and_magic



Category: Christian Bible, Ghost Adventures (TV), Ghost Adventures RPF
Genre: AU, Angel!Aaron, Angel!Zak, FallenAngel!Zak, M/M, Paranormal, Vulgar Language, alternative universe, human!Nick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2018-08-29 16:50:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 27,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8497828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_of_time_and_magic/pseuds/goddess_of_time_and_magic
Summary: Not all of the Ghost Adventures team is human. Two of them are angels and have found a way to walk amongst the mortals on the Earth, tasked by God to return his children back to Heaven. Taking the cover of a paranormal investigator, Zak Bagans and Aaron Goodwin walk the Earth, recording their findings and helping the lost souls, off camera, in returning to Heaven. They have to become their characters when Nick Groff, a religious man, walks into their life.Several years later, they are found by the Travel Channel and produce their own show. Curious if this will help their good cause, Zak and Aaron accept and two more men join their group, Billy and Jay. One investigation though, proves too much for Zak and Aaron and their true identities are revealed to their close friends. Also, Zak and Nick's relationship is tested as new feelings rise to the surface. What will become of their friendship? In the case of Zak and Nick, their relationship?(A Fanfic, in which, Zak Bagans and Aaron Goodwin are angels and Nick Groff never left.)





	1. Soundtrack

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to say that any of this work is subject to change. I just needed to post the first two chapters to see if this would get anything. I am working on it and if I get enough readers I will continue to post weekly. 
> 
> Please comment. 
> 
> I would like to know if this work sucks or something. 
> 
> Thanks!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157063067@N06/37102239066/in/dateposted-public/)

 

* * *

** Soundtrack: **

  1. _We Don’t Belong_ by Black Veil Brides
  2. _Angels Fall_ by Breaking Benjamin
  3. _Crossfire_ by Stephen
  4. _Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)_ by Journey
  5. _Give Me A Sign_ by Breaking Benjamin
  6. _Hymn_ by Nightcall
  7. _Hospital For Souls_ by Bring Me The Horizon
  8. _I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing_ by Aerosmith
  9. _Lead Me Out Of The Dark_ by Crown The Empire
  10. _Hell Is For Children_ by Pat Benetar
  11. _Devil Went Down To Georgia_ by Charlie Daniels Band
  12. _War of Hearts_ by Ruelle
  13. _As Long As You Love Me_ by Sleeping At Last
  14. _Archangel_ by Future Heroes
  15. _Heaven_ by Bryan Adams
  16. _Fortunate Son_ by Creedance Clearwater Revival




	2. Part One

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee,

to keep thee in all thy ways.”

-          Psalms 91:11 (King James Bible)

 


	3. | Chapter 1 | Seven Deadly Sins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place a couple days before Zak, Aaron, and Nick meet each other for the first time. 
> 
> Nick is very religious in the story and if there are any mistakes, please let me know.

* * *

 

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” he whispered, his head bent in shame to his knees. His nose was filled with the smell of mahogany wood and incense which he found addicting. It was one of his favorite smells, but he didn’t bask in it or try to fill his nose with the smell. He was too ashamed at what he had done and his eyes burned with tears.

“What have you done, child?” his priest asked from the other side of the wooden barred window.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the old wooden chair creaking under his weight, “I’ve used God’s name in vein and went behind people’s backs at work to get what I want. I know this is a sin, Father,” he added quickly, “And I ask His forgiveness through you.”

“Why did you commit the sin of Greed?”

“I…,” he chose his words carefully, “ _Wanted,_ ” the word was sour, “More money, more power over my fellow coworkers,” his voice shook as he admitted his wrong doing, “Oh, Father,” he begged and if he could he would have got down on his knees, “Please forgive me,” he grasped at the gothic cross hanging around his neck, the metal cutting into his flesh on his neck.

“My son,” the priest responded with a voice so calm it was as if he had heard this over and over again, “Calm. You will be forgiven in His eyes. You are a respected member of this church and have done good in God’s name.”

“You said ‘will.’ What do I need to do to receive His forgiveness?” he asked, hope sparkling in his eyes.

“Travel to the West, to the City of Sin. There you shall find your forgiveness.”

“The City of Sin?” It seemed almost ironic for God to want him to go there since he committed a sin. Did He want him to commit more sins and fall from His good grace?

“Yes, my son,” the priest said, “You will know it when you see,” the next sentence though had a hint of humor it that even he had to smile at, “If I remember correctly, you have quite the knack of the paranormal and a history of it.”

“Yes, I do,” his mind flashed to his childhood house and the exorcist that took place there, scaring him for life. He wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything, though.

“Will you go?”

“Since it is God’s will, I will,” he responded.

“Good,” he could hear the smile in his priest voice, “Now, join me, son, in the Lord’s Prayer.”

He lowered his head, his hands folding in on themselves, and closed his eyes. He repeated the prayer with the priest, the same one he had memorized since he was a little boy and could say in his sleep, “Our Father who art in heaven,” his voice was calm, all his passion for forgiveness echoed in his words, “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” he took a breath and continued the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” Oddly enough, he could feel some unknown force covering him like some clear shell, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.”

 “Amen,” the priest finished.

He took another breath and opened his eyes, “Amen.”

“I wish you luck, my son,” and then the red velvet curtain in front of him was pulled back signaling his time to leave.

“Thank you, Father,” he said and stood up from the wooden chair and exited the Confession Booth, placing the metal cross back into its place within his shirt. He hissed quietly when the cold metal hit his warm skin.

His eyes connected with the altar sitting about twenty five pews in front of him. It was covered in the purple cloth symbolizing the Easter Season. Golden plates sat on top with two, large, golden candle sticks flanking it. The church was large and his footsteps echoed on the smooth marble floors. Stain glass glowed in the decorative arches surrounding the pews and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, electric lights burning bright. He walked toward the front doors, dark wood with even darker metal. Suddenly, the entrance opened up and a medium height man walked in, his dark hair stripped with silver of old age. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as his eyes narrowed in on the white, clerical collar around the man’s neck.

The man froze in his spot before him, “Nick? What are you doing here?”

Nick looked back at him to the Confession booth, but it stood silently and was completely dark, and then back at the priest he thought he was talking to just moments before, “But-… I thought-….”

“I didn’t know you were coming today,” his priest said as he walked around Nick and to the basin of holy water behind him. He dipped two fingers in and made the sign of the cross on his chest before turning to look back at Nick, “Do you want to confess today, Nick?” He was still frozen to his spot as his mind whirled as to what had just taken place. His mouth bobbed up and down as he tried to form words. His priest burst into laughter, “I understand. Besides, a man like you probably has so many sins to confess,” His words were out of pure sarcasm, “Well, I wish you a good day, Nick.”

Nick sighed, his spirit coming back to earth, “Uh… yea… have a good day,” and he walked out the wooden doors in a daze state. Walking down the stairs, he found himself turning around to look up at the church. _What, in God’s name, happened?_

 


	4. | Chapter 2 | Pride

* * *

 

Music pounded in his ears and it felt like they were going to start bleeding. He groaned and covered his ears with his hands trying to dull the heavy bass and guitar riffs drumming through his head. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was a kaleidoscope of colors exploding behind his eyelids. His body shook, suddenly, as a large hand landed on his back. He turned to look and his eyes connected with the wide, wild, dark eyes of his best friend.

“Come on, man!” his smile was fierce, “Isn’t this music awesome?”

He winced as the music continued to pound through his skull like some military catapult from the Middle Ages. In fact, that was what if felt like and he should know since he was there at the fall of Jerusalem’s walls during the Crusades; they both were, “Sure, man,” he gave his best friend a faux smile before turning back to the tumbler glass on the bar filled with an amber liquid. Releasing one ear to the torture of his best friend’s so called “music,” he grasped the warm crystal and brought it up to his lips, tossing the liquid down his throat. It burned pleasantly on its way down his stomach. He sighed in peace as his brain became hazy from his sixth glass of whiskey, but he knew it wouldn’t last long.

“Zak! Come on, man!” his best friend pulled him to face him again and he gave a glare as he turned. His best friend’s hands grasped his own and pulled them away from his head. He winced once again as the music thudded through his ear drums, “It isn’t that bad, you know? These mortals sure know how to play their guitars!”

Zak’s glare hardened even more at the mention of mortals, “Shhhh, Aaron! Don’t let them hear you! You remember the last time you mentioned the ‘m’ word in public?” Aaron gave a heartfelt laugh, “You brought the whole entire English country side to a mad man’s knee.”

“You got admit, though, dude,” Aaron smiled. Zak really started to hate that smile, “That witch hunt was pretty cool,” Zak’s only response to that was his glare which Aaron burst into laughter at, “Dude! It _was_ pretty cool,” Zak was starting to think that Aaron spent _too_ much time at this club picking up slang words, girls, and enough alcohol in his blood stream to knock out a horse. Zak stood up from his seat, his dark eyes roaming over the bodies on the dance floor rubbing against each other wantonly. The smell of aphrodisiac in the air was overpowering to his sensitive nose. He was disgusted at the sight. Aaron grabbed his arm, pulling him to stop. Zak looked back at the hand holding him and then up at Aaron, a snarl almost unleashed from his lips. Aaron saw the fire burning in Zak’s eyes and let go immediately, having been at the receiving end of Zak’s anger one too many times, “Don’t tell me you’re leaving already.”

“Someone has to watch over the house,” Zak said bitterly, “I don’t particularly want another visit from some stranger… _again_ ,” the way he said the word was distasteful and full of venom pointed directly at Aaron, though he knew it was only out of kindness.

His best friend smiled, remembering the time they both came back to their apartment and found a homeless man making himself at home with a bowl of ice cream. To say Zak was happy would have made Aaron feel whole lot better after that moment, but Zak’s face was priceless and Aaron wouldn’t let him down afterwards, “I don’t know, Zak. I like the amusing look of shock on your face. Not every mortal has been able to pull that off,” In fact, Aaron couldn’t remember the last time a mortal had been the cause of such emotions in Zak. Was it the Second Great War when one of their mortal comrades thought it would be funny to hide Zak’s combat boots, or that time they were attacked by a gang of bandits on their way to Italy on the Silk Road so long ago?

Zak scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow morning then?”

Aaron knew better than to fight with Zak about him staying and so nodded, “Maybe tomorrow night.”

“Don’t bring any more girls home,” Zak warned his best friend.

“Yes, mom,” Aaron replied sarcastically as Zak turned on his heel and walked toward the exit of the club, weaving in and out between the sweaty bodies of horny teenagers and adults.

Once outside, he breathed in a fresh breath of air and sighed, a smile gracing his features. He could still feel the thudding in his skull from Aaron’s “music,” or as he called it heavy metal “music.” Even with its right title, it still annoyed him and that was probably one of the many reasons Aaron loved it so much. Give him something more calmer and less like he was going to get something thrown at his head every time he heard it any day. Give him his techno music with the base drops and soulful lyrics. Give him something he can actually _feel_ race through his veins. Give him something that made him feel less like some immortal creature with a raging storm inside.

He sighed again. He knew what he needed to calm himself down. _Pluviae De Caelo._ Heaven’s Rain. A Gift from God to gods. Yea, that was exactly what he needed. Mix that with his couch at the apartment and his favorite television show and he was in heaven. Or as close to it as he could get.

Walking swiftly down the sidewalk, his black trench coat billowing behind him, he was reminded of his younger days when he was Home. Home, with its bright, golden towers and streets filled with never ending baskets of food. Home, where you never needed money nor greed and everyone was given a fair share. Home, the only place he could soar through the clouds and not be on the national news channel in seconds. He missed being able to spread his wings, maybe he should do that to when he got home, after taking careful precautions.

Finally, at last, he arrived at the apartment complex he and Aaron shared for the time being. He slid between the chain length fences that were holier that his window curtain’s and into the debris covered parking lot. A couple cars sat in their respected parking spaces, but several others lay to the side, rusting away underneath Earth’s acid rain. He growled as he thought about what all these mortals had done to God’s once pride and joy, but it quickly changed to smirk. _Serves them right_ , he thought. Mankind deserved to suffer and die at their own hands. Quickly, he walked up the cracked concrete steps and to the third floor, the top most floor. Taking his keys from his trench coat pocket, he walked to the end of the landing to the last door and opened it. Stepping inside, he closed the door quietly, his eyes adjusting to the darkness he had left the apartment to that morning.

“ _Ignis_!” he growled as he raised his hand and in the center of his palm, a small ball of fire erupted. The room was set a glow by its dull heavenly light. He couldn’t use his magic very often since he wasn’t Home and he wasn’t _exactly_ supposed to be using either, but that didn’t stop him from using it when he could.

Walking over to the closest lamp, he flicked the switch and more light was added to the room. His eyes roamed over the first room of his apartment. A large cabinet sat against the far wall, a medium sized TV within it. DVD’s were nestled in the book shelves surrounding it, placed in alphabetic order and genre, curtesy of him. He hated things to be a mess, which his best friend should have been thankful for because he was such a slob. A large leather sofa sat opposite the TV and in front of him. A coffee table was in front of the sofa, the top covered in a neat order of old, take out containers and magazine’s ranging from cars to the paranormal. He walked over to the other side of the sofa and flicked the switch of the light there and then made his way through the doorway to the kitchen.

The kitchen was neat, but was in a need of a desperate cleaning. Dust settled everywhere and grease covered the cabinets above the stove from the couple of times Aaron had tried to cook for the both of them. Empty and partly full bags of chips cluttered the countertops from Aaron’s midnight snack trips and the sink was dripping water every five seconds, much to Zak’s enjoyment. Walking over, he flipped the switch and the light above the sink turned on. With the same hand he pushed the handle of the sink down and the dripping stopped. Zak smiled in accomplishment and he moved his fire covered hand away from the sink so the curtains above wouldn’t catch fire. He reached out to make sure they were secure and they were.

Moving out of the kitchen, he walked down the hallway, passing the bathroom on his right, and coming to the entrance of his bedroom next door to it. Aaron’s room was across from his, but he didn’t dare go in there in fear of what diseases he might catch that were just air born. He pushed on the door to his room gently and it swung open and he smiled again as his nose was flooded with his scent. Walking in, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and the dull light of the fire in his hand. Making his way over to his bed, he found his lamp next to it on the table and flipped it on. With a snap of his fingers of the hand which held the fire, it went out, leaving him in the small light of his room. Sighing, he sat down on his bed and shed the trench coat, laying it with care beside him. Then he untied the combat boots on his feet and placed them next to his bed. He stood up again and reached for the edge of his shirt and pulled it up over his head, his muscles screaming at the way he pulled at them. He groaned. It had been too long since he last worked out. Maybe the mortals were rubbing off on him with their ideas of getting skinny off of a fat-food-filled modern age.

Concentrating on no particular spot on the wall, he thought about his wings and how the air felt beneath his feathers. He felt a slight sting on his back as his flesh was pulled apart and then he opened his eyes. Glancing to his right in the full length mirror he had beside the door, he smiled at the sight he saw. On his muscular back, beneath the tattoo he got there of a pair of leather, miniature wings about twenty years ago, a pair of large wings protruded from his back. His left wing brushed the wall next to his bed and his right wing tickled the tops of his covers at the foot of the bed. His wings were black and blended in with the darkness surrounding him and the lamp next to his bed. Each feather was no longer that the length of his forearm, but they were such a beautiful shiny, obsidian color. On reflex, they stretched as if they had a mind of their own and bristled at being released from their confinements for so long.

“Hello, old friends,” he murmured to them with a joyful smile. He wasn’t sure when the next time he would see them again. He had no plans for visitors tonight and Aaron wasn’t due home for another couple hours, probably with a couple of girls. He had time to kill and he wanted to spend the rest of the night watching _American Horror Story_ , or some other horror filled mortal TV show he could find. He adored horror movies and the thrill it sent in his bones, especially the ones about ghosts and the paranormal. Those movies reminded him, also, of his and Aaron’s task on Earth and were very informational. He would admit that he wasn’t too particular fond of this task, but it was important, one of the most important tasks in all of creation. He and Aaron had to find lost souls and help them to the other side, whatever other side that they belonged to. The problem was that not all souls wanted to be found and not all souls were once mortal. Some were disguised as such and placed on this earth by Lucifer himself in order to stop them. The Devil didn’t want the lost souls to be taken since they were under his command as they walked the earth. The souls that were disguised as something else were called demons, the bane of his kind’s existence. There was a reason why his kind took the Heavens and their kind took the darkest places of Earth, but he didn’t want to think about the creatures that had taken his parents and close friends, the wound was still too fresh even after the two thousand years since then.

Quietly, he made his way through the hall and to the kitchen. His blue gaze settled on the refrigerator and with a quick flourish of his hand, it opened up to reveal a secret compartment. Row upon rows of bottles filled with a clear liquid lay within. He reached in and pulled out a bottle, the glass crackling beneath his inhuman grasp. He closed the door and brought the bottle to his mouth, his lips taking the cork and pulling it from the bottles grasp. He spat the cork out into the sink and brought the bottle back up to his lips. White smoke poured from the top and it raced through his nose. When the liquid touched his tongue, he moaned. _Pluviae De Caelo_ was a God sent gift. It tasted like nothing, but it was everything. It filled his stomach like a feast would, but left him hungry for. It was the blood racing through his veins, but God created it so. All he knew was that it was the perfect ending to a horrible evening. _No_ , he thought, he still had one more thing to do.

Turning on his feet, he walked to the living room where the large sofa was waiting for him. His wings curled on his back as they made room for his body to move in the tight corridor. Once there, he fell gracefully back onto the couch, careful to not crush his wings beneath his body weight. _Yes, this is now a perfect evening_ , he thought and grabbed the TV remote off the neat mess of his coffee table. He turned the contraption on and began to surf through the stations. He sighed as some of the TV shows crossed his vision. _Seriously, mortals watch this stuff?_ He couldn’t help but think. At last, he found a horror TV show and, with that, he flipped the remote next to him on the couch and made himself comfortable.


	5. | Chapter 3 | Wrath

* * *

             It was still dark when Zak woke up, his heart pounding his chest and his eyes wide. He got up quickly off the couch, his wings shook behind him to rid them of sleep. He made his way down the hallway to Aaron’s room to wake him. God be damned, he didn’t care if his best friend was still asleep.

            Bursting into Aaron’s room like a man on a mission, he walked up to the foot of the bed. The room was dark like the rest of the house, which was just the way they both liked it. Zak was almost afraid to pull back the covers in fear of what lay underneath. _Was it one girl? Two girls? God, I hope it’s one girl_ , Zak thought as he grasped the edge of the Batman comforter. What he really hoped for, though, was a _dressed_ Aaron underneath the blankets. He didn’t want another memory of a naked Aaron etched into his brain. That was horrific in itself.

            Quickly, he pulled the blanket back and yelled, “Aaron!”

            A large feminine, male scream was his answer.

†††֎†††֎†††

            “Man, Zak,” his best friend groaned as he rubbed at his temples, “I really hate it when you wake me up like that,” his dark eyes connected with the bare back of his best friend cooking over the stove. His black wings ruffled and tensed each time the bacon on the stove crackled.

            “Sorry,” Zak responded as he picked up the jumping frying pan and walked over to Aaron at the breakfast bar on the far side of the kitchen.

            “No, you’re not,” Aaron moaned and plucked at the hot meat with dainty fingers.

            Zak laughed, “Okay, okay, Mr. Grumpy,” and he sat down at the bar next to Aaron, the metal bars of the chair digging into his wings. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, which Aaron noticed.

            He looked up at the black wings with curiosity, “Haven’t seen you with wings in centuries.”

            Zak nodded and picked up his fork, cutting up the eggs on his plate, and placed them in his mouth, “Needed a breather,” he simply said. Aaron was silent in response and Zak knew what he was asking. He looked up at Aaron, his fork still shoveling food into his mouth. Aaron had a puppy like expression, “Go ahead,” Zak responded like a parent giving permission to a child.

            Aaron was already shirtless when Zak woke him up, but thankfully had a pair of pajama bottoms on. He closed his eyes in response to Zak’s voice, his fork clenched in his fist. Then, suddenly, a pair of wings burst from his back, Aaron’s face pinching slightly at the pain. They were white, unlike Zak’s own, but that was because Zak was fallen. Aaron was chosen to come to Earth, while Zak was forced to in order to gain favor with God once again. He didn’t like to talk about how he had fallen and even Aaron didn’t know the reason and left Zak to his own devices concerning it. Aaron opened his eyes and gave a happy sigh, “Ah, thanks, man.”

            With that, the two angels continued to eat their breakfast in peace until Aaron decided to speak again, “Why ‘cha wake me so damn early anyway, Zak?” his mouth was full of eggs and bacon.

            Zak looked up at his best friend and swallowed the bite of egg he had in his mouth, “I had an idea regarding our task.”

            Aaron stared at him to continue, “Go ahead.”

            “Well, last night I was watching another one of my TV shows,” Zak told him, placing the plastic, silver fork down next to his paper plate. They were both too lazy to wash regular dishes and had no idea how to work a dishwasher, “And I was struck by how simple our task would be and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. We should become ghost investigators. We could be back in Heaven by the end of the century!” Zak smiled wickedly, his feathers ruffling behind him in anticipation.

            Aaron looked at him curiously wondering if maybe some other fallen angel by the name of Zak had taken his best friends place in the middle of the night, “What?” he froze mid chew, his own wings stopped ruffling, “Are you… _insane_?”

            “Well,” Zak thought for a moment out loud, “There was that man during the late 1800’s that thought I was an extreme form of what he called the ‘id,’” Zak responded out loud and then gave Aaron a cheeky smirk, “But I think I’m just fucking _psycho_ pathic.”

            “That is probably the most _absurd_ thing I have _ever_ heard you say,” Aaron swallowed the good in his mouth, “And _that_ is saying something.”

            Zak leaned forward in his seat toward Aaron, “Think about it, Aaron. We _disguise_ ourselves as mortals and get _invited_ into places and _hunt_ ghosts,” each verb was drawn out as he punched the sentence into Aaron’s mind, “No more illegal trespassing and no more trouble with the police. From now on, we could be completely bonafide.”

            “Bonafide?” Aaron chuckled at the word, “When the _fuck_ did you start using that word?”

            “All the damn time, _bone_ head,” Zak fired back with a teasing smirk, “Now, what do you say to that plan?”

            Aaron thought for a moment, his wings ruffling on his back. He then looked at Zak and raised his glass of pure water up to him, “This may be the craziest, damned idea you have ever had Zak, but I am not letting you do this alone,” Zak lifted his up in response and clanged the glasses together, the ping radiating throughout the apartment.


	6. | Chapter 4 | Envy

* * *

 

He went west to the City of Sin as his priest had told him to do. Though he still couldn’t quite believe that the man in the Confession booth was his priest, he still followed the unknown man’s directions. He needed a break from work and his life anyway. Maybe he could find a nice girl out here that was both religious and a major gamer like him. He smiled at that idea; a Catholic gamer girl would be perfect. He then made a sound of disgust at the back of his throat. Why did he sound like he was ordering something at a Chinese restaurant? _Ah, yes, I would like the girl, please, with a side of Catholic and loves gaming. Oh! I almost forgot, she’s got to have gorgeous eyes_ , he thought _, yea… no._ _That was too weird._

“You okay back there, Mr. Groff?” he forgot where he was and his mind drifted off into places.

He glanced away from the window to the taxi driver in the front seat. It was an older man and clearly had been doing this for too long. He had kind eyes, but they were old, way older than the body they resided in. He looked through the rear view mirror at him with a look of worry on his face. Nick noted the rosary that hung around the mirror and the row of newspaper clippings of lost children along the dashboard. Nick nodded with a light hearted smile, “Yep.”

The taxi driver nodded and turned back to the busy Las Vegas strip. Soon, the car turned and Nick looked up at the looming building, an odd looking ‘H’ placed at the front of it. The taxi found a spot to pull up to near the entrance amongst the other taxi cars there. Both men got out of the car to help get Nick’s things out of the trunk.

 As the driver unlocked the car, having lost his keys in his pocket, Nick’s eyes ran over the people walking amongst the cars. His eyes landed on two men sitting down near the entrance. Their baggage was at their feet, being unloaded by a heavily tanned man. The first man sat on a suitcase and Nick noted he had a rough beard on his chin, but no hair on the top of his head. His lips were smiling as he looked at the man next to him. Both of the men, Nick saw, wore sun glasses and each had a different style and both wore black in their clothes. The bearded one had a pair of nerdy looking ones, while his friend had a pair of 50’s style ones. The 50’s sun glasses guy sat, more like sprawled, across the metal chair, a phone in his lap. He had dark hair that was gelled into a triangle on his head; he was too far away for Nick to make out anything else.

Suddenly, something shifted behind the man in Nick’s eyes and there was a flash of a pair of dark wings. It was for only a moment, but if felt to real. Nick stood frozen there as the taxi driver pulled the suitcases out of the trunk without him. The man he thought he saw the wings behind turned his head away from his bearded friend slightly and looked at Nick.

“Mr. Groff,” the driver turned to look at Nick, but Nick was too caught up in staring at the man. There was something about him, something unearthly, that Nick couldn’t figure out, “Mr. Groff!” the driver touched his arm, startling Nick.

Nick smiled, a faint blush of embarrassment flaring on his cheeks, as he dug in his pocket for his wallet, “Sorry,” Nick passed the money to the driver, “Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” the driver simply responded and walked to the driver side of his vehicle. Nick began to walk away but was stopped as just as the driver spoke again, “Hey, Mr. Groff,” Nick turned back to look at the driver, “Enjoy yourself.”

Nick forced a smile to his face, “Thanks,” it was quite odd for a driver to make such a comment. All of the taxi drivers he had known were rude and couldn’t care less how their customer felt that day. He watched the driver get in his car and drove away. With a sigh, Nick turned around, flexing his fingertips around his suitcases handles. He walked toward the entrance, his mind’s eye watching the two odd looking men near the door.

At last, he made his way to the reception desk, his eyes focused on the mahogany wood instead of the luxurious interior that the hotel had. A red head stood behind it, her lips like red, cherry candy. Her eyes were like lollipops without a stick. Nick gave her a smile because he was a gentleman no matter how annoyed by her presence he was, “Hello, how can I help you?”

“My room, please,” he responded, “The names Groff.”

With quick, nimble fingers, the receptionists checked him in and handed him a plastic card, the sickening yellow paper around it clashing with her bright, red finger nails. She gave him her candy smile again, “Here ya go.”

“Thanks,” he nodded to her.

“I hope you have a great stay,” she responded. Her breath even smelled like candy.

 And he walked toward the elevator.

Once on, he gave a desperate sigh, looking up at the golden, tin ceiling of the elevator. His heart pounded in his chest as he ascended into the sky. All he could see was those wings on the back of his eyelids and the unnatural feeling those two men gave off. It reminded him of the exorcism of his house, but this feeling was more gentler, more good than the evil in that old home. The elevator woke him from his thoughts with a ding and the doors opened. Nick quickly got off the elevator and followed the signs to his room. Inside, he rearranged his belongings in drawers and pulled the covers back on his bed and dropped the temperature of the room. With another sigh, his eyes fell on the pair of black swim trunks in the bottom drawer. He rolled his shoulders and hissed. He really hated long airplane rides. _Yea_ , he thought _, a swim would do me good_.

A half an hour later or so, Nick was down in the pool doing laps amongst the young families and the groups of old people with fake, golden rings on their fingers. He could almost see the rows of zeros they imagined before the decimal point in their bank accounts. He rested on the edge of the pool, his muscles stretching beneath his skin in the cool water. The pool was large, palm trees growing along the edges where bikini clad females lounged talking amongst each other about the newest trends. Honestly, though, they all had their eyes on the men in the pool, hoping one of them would catch their fancy. Nick rolled his eyes as one of them made eye contact with him and gave him a flirtatious smile. They were pretty, Nick would admit, but they wouldn’t love him.

A loud cheer silenced the noise of the pool for a couple seconds and Nick looked over toward the bar where a large group held their hands above their head, their eyes glued to the television screen. Nick made his way to the silver ladder closest to him and climbed up, his trunks pulled down his slim hips. Water dripped from his body to the ground, sizzling on the hot cement beneath the Las Vegas sun. He walked across to his chair where his things lay and picked up his towel. Giving his body a quick dry off, he wrapped his towel around his neck, and clutched his phone, wallet, and room key in his hand. Nick then turned toward the bar on the opposite side of the pool, his mouth watering at the thought of a cool beer, the chilled glass cold in his palm.

Once at the bar, he chooses a bar stool far away from the group and the bar tender, a young looking man, comes up to him. A large sigh escapes his mouth and he rolls his eyes at the group, “What can I get for you, sir?” he had a small teasing smile on his face.

“Chilled glass of your lightest beer,” Nick ordered with a smile of his own.

“Okay,” the man replied and grabbed a glass from under the bar, the crystal foggy in his grasp. Taking a tap from in front of Nick, he filled the glass to the rim with the light colored liquor, a thin line of foam on the top of it, “Here you go,” the man placed it down in front of him, “Anything else?” he asked as Nick took a sip from it.

Nick smiled, “Nope, thank you. It is perfect,” and the bar tender left him to deal with the raging group at the far side of the bar. They rose up in cheer as another player scored a goal on the television. Nick looked up at the TV in front of him, it was some football game. He was never one for sports and found them to be rather pathetic. He looked away from the TV and down at his beer glass which he nursed in between his hands.

Suddenly, the bar tender came up to him again and Nick looked at him slightly startled. The younger man wasn’t looking at him, though, but rather something next to him. Nick looked at the spot next to him, slightly spooked as to why he couldn’t feel the person come up next to him, “Hello, sir, what can I get for you?” Nick looked at the man that sat next to him with the same curiosity a child would to a bug.

It was the man he had seen in front of the hotel, the one who wore a pair of 50’s style sun glasses, which he wore at the moment. Now that he was closer, Nick could see the finer details regarding him. The man had pale skin, but he was muscular and Nick could easily wrap two hands and half around the man’s biceps. His hair was dark, almost black, but there was no gel in it like before and Nick liked the man’s hair better that way. He had a thin scar that ran down from his forehead and across his eye to the middle of cheek. Honestly, someone wouldn’t be able to see it unless they caught it in the right light. Nick wondered how he got it. The man, also, wore a light grey shirt, some black, unknown, gothic design on it and it was paired with black swim trunks, the seams darker from the water. The man ordered something, Nick was too caught up in studying the man to notice what it was, and he turned to Nick with a warm smile on his face.

“Hello,” the man extended his hand to the smaller one, “My name is Zak.”

Waking from his daze, Nick clasped the other man’s hand and shook it gently, “Nick. Nick Groff.”

“Pleasure,” Zak responded and looked up at the television above the bar, “Sports your thing?” he was making small talk, but Nick didn’t mind.

“Nah,” Nick responded, “Never was in school,” Nick was quite surprised by how easily he was revealing himself to this man.

“Yea… same,” Zak said sort of awkwardly as if he was trying to cover up a lie. They were silent as the bar tender came back and placed a small glass tumbler full of amber liquid down in front of Zak, “Thanks,” he gave another one of his warm smiles and raised the glass in cheer. The bar tender left and Zak turned to Nick, “Well, how about a toast.”

Nick smiled and raised his glass to Zak, “To?”

“New Beginnings,” Zak cheered and their glasses clinked, the alcohol flowing down their throats, “So, what brings you to the City of Sin, Mr. Groff?”

“My priest,” Nick responded and at Zak’s confused look, Nick explained further, “I went to Confession and he told me that the only way I would be forgiven for what I’ve done is to come West, to come here,” Nick glanced around him as he said this, “I’m not sure what I’m looking for honestly,” Zak nodded, “How about you?”

Zak’s grin grew wicked, “You see that beached whale over there?” he motioned behind him to one of the chairs near the pool. Nick’s eyes narrowed in on the only male laying there, the bald one with the beard that he had seen with Zak. Nick looked back at Zak, “That’s my best friend, Aaron’s his name. Him and I created our own paranormal group, _Ghost Adventures_?” he asked, curious to see if Nick had heard of it.

He shook his head, “Never heard of you guys,” he gave an apologetic look. His ears perked up though at the word ‘paranormal,’ visions flashing in his mind.

“It’s alright,” Zak waved him off, “We’re new. Anyway,” he continued, “We got a call to investigate this old middle school here. We are looking forward to it.”

“Sounds like fun,” Nick responded, memories floating to the surface of his conscious.

“Yea,” Zak said, “So, Nick, do _you_ believe in ghosts?” Nick was quiet in response and Zak noticed this, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s okay,” Nick said quickly, “It’s just…,” he sighed and looked down at his beer glass. He took a quick swig of it, “Ah. Ummm…,” he looked at Zak, “I’m not sure how to say this,” he cleared his throat, “I… ummm… I do believe in ghosts,” he chuckled lightly, “Very much so.”

“I see,” Zak nodded and reached out with a hand to touch Nick’s own, but held back, “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.”

“When I was younger, my house was haunted by demons,” he responded, feeling an unknown weight fall from his shoulders, “It was exorcised, but the things I experienced, the things I saw; you can’t unseen something like that, Zak,” he felt like he was confessing his whole world to this guy who he had just met that day.

Zak nodded, a knowing smile on his face, “I know what you mean. I’ve… had similar experiences,” he had that same tone of voice like he was covering something up. Nick didn’t press further.

“Hey, Zak!” their conversation was interrupted when Zak’s beached whale came over to them, a bright smile on his face. The man was intoxicating, the way humor and laughter and happiness just screamed from his arura. Nick smiled at the man as he came to them.

“Hey, Aaron,” Zak smiled at his best friend and nodded toward Nick, “This is Nick Groff. Nick, this is Aaron.”

Aaron turned to Nick, his smile so bright on his face, “Ah, so, you’re the man he was talking about,” Nick looked at Zak in alarm.

“Aaron,” Zak’s voice was a mixture of a groan and a warning.

He burst into laughter, “Nice to meet you,” the man then turned to Zak, “Anyway, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I need your help, man. Our _guest_ had to back out of dinner tonight,” Aaron said, the word ‘guest’ was said in a way that made Nick feel like he wasn’t supposed to know who it really was.

“Shit,” Zak cursed silently, his fingers skimming over the rim of his tumbler glass. Nick tossed back the remaining beer in his own glass, his eyes never leaving Zak’s face. Then, suddenly, Zak turned to Nick with a wild smile, “How about you join us, Nick?” and to press his joy of Nick joining them for dinner, he continued, “I’d love to hear more about you?”

Nick thought for a moment. He wasn’t busy for the night, “Alright.”

“Great!” Zak was excited and reminded Nick of a kid in a candy store, “Meet us at VooDoo Steakhouse around six? Reservations are under the name Aaron,” and he stood up, placing a couple dollars underneath his glass.

“Okay. I’ll see you there,” Nick responded with a cheerful smile.

With that, Aaron pulled Zak away from him and was gone. Nick sighed and looked down at his beer glass, a smile still etched on his face. For once, in his life, he felt excited and happy and his heart pounded in his chest. Taking his wallet, he pulled a couple dollars from it and repeated Zak’s own actions by placing it under his glass. He looked toward the bar tender at the opposite side of the bar. The young man looked at him with a grateful smile and Nick nodded to him in thanks before getting up off his seat and walking back into the hotel to get ready for the night.


	7. | Chapter 5 | Sloth

            He traveled to the second floor of one of the nearby hotels to the restaurant. He was the only one in the elevator surprisingly, save for the reflection of himself in the mirrored walls. He was dressed sharply, as it was dress code for the steakhouse. He wore a simple, dark blue, flannel shirt with his only tux jacket he brought with him on top, and a pair of slacks that were not pressed. His dark brown hair was brushed and the slight sprinkle of hair on his chin was trimmed. The elevator opened for him, signaling his entrance to the restaurant with a _bing_.

            His eyes grew wide as he took in the décor of the restaurant. It was dark with purple lights glowing down from the ceiling. Along the right of the room was a long row of windows looking over the Las Vegas strip, lights pulsing like a heartbeat. The music was low and was drowned out by the chatter of people for the restaurant was extremely busy. A small group of young looking people was crowded around the large wooden desk at the entrance to the room. Some were lip singing to the music in the background while others seemed to be a heated exchange of words. He slowly made his way toward them and one of them looked up at him with a bright smile.

            “Goodevenin’, sir,” the young man replied, his eyes running over Nick’s body quickly and Nick didn’t quite like the way he looked at him, “How many?”

            “I am meeting some people here,” Nick replied, “Reservation under the name Aaron?”

            The man looked down at a piece of paper of the desk and grabbed a highlighter, drawing a yellow line over the pen. He then looked up at Nick, “This way, sir,” and Nick followed the young man over toward the windows, his eyes searching for Zak and Aaron amongst the crowd.

            Suddenly, a voice called out his name, “Nick! Over here!” and he looked ahead toward the back of the restaurant, a hand waving above the bobbing heads. Nick smiled as his eyes connected with the two men as he came to their table. The young man nodded to Nick, a flirtatious smile on his face, and left him.

            Aaron stood up first, his hand reaching across the table to him, “Hey, Nick! Good to see ya again,” and Nick’s body shook as the larger man hammered their connected hands up and down. Nick couldn’t help but laugh at how joyous this man was. Nick’s eyes roamed over him as he did so. Aaron wore a silk, grey shirt with a black tie and matching slacks. He didn’t wear a jacket though like Nick.

            As Aaron sat down, Zak stood up and shook Nick’s hands. Nick almost pulled back though when he felt an unknown electrical charge shoot through his arm. Thinking it was nothing, Nick smiled, “Hey, Nick,” Zak smiled warmly as if he didn’t feel the electricity, and sat down in his seat, Nick following behind him. Nick looked over Zak as the man picked up the menu in front of him. Zak wore an odd outfit and completely black, but it was elegant in the way that black was elegant. He wore a felt, trench coat that was covered in a gothic theme; silver buttons and straps covered every inch of the fabric. Underneath, he wore a plain black shirt and Nick could see Zak’s muscles shift underneath it as he flipped the menu over.

            “So, whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout for dinner?” Zak asks, a smirk on his face as he looks up at Nick catching him looking at him.

            Nick looked away quickly hoping Zak didn’t catch him, “Not sure,” his eyes ran over the words on the menu, but they were blurry, “What do you suggest?”

            “Never been here before,” Zak replied and looked back down at his menu.

            “First time, actually, being in Las Vegas,” Aaron replied and just then the waiter came up, a tired look on his face.

            “Hello, my name is Erik,” he sighed out, “I’ll be serving you this evening. What can I get for you to drink?”

            Zak cleared his throat, “Whiskey, please,” the waiter nodded, not even pulling out his notepad to write their orders down, and looked at Nick.

            “Just a water, please,” he replied, he didn’t like to drink and so one beer for him that day was enough.

            The waiter turned to Aaron who looked up at him with a goofy smile, “Coke, please, and can I have a cheery in it?” Nick laughed at the waiter’s confused expression and Zak simply rolled his eyes.

            “Alright, I can do that,” the waiter responded it, “I’ll have your order out shortly,” and left their table.

            Aaron turned to Zak, who looked at him with an amused expression, “What?”

            “Nothing,” Zak smirked and turned to Nick, “So, Nick, tell me a bit about yourself?”

            “Well,” Nick cleared his throat, quite alarmed by how quickly this conversation turned to him, “I grew up on the East Coast, in Salem, New Hampshire, though I was born in California,” at Zak’s confused look, he said, “Long story. Ummm…,” Nick thought for a moment on where to go with his life story, “Fell out of a tree when I was eight, felt like I died and I believe it was that moment that made me realize about the world around me,” he elaborated more on the topic, “When I was nine, I began to… _see_ things,” his hands moved as he explained and Aaron watched Zak watch Nick with a look of longing and amusement. Aaron knew he would have to ask Zak about it later and he _would_ get his answer no matter how much Zak may protest, “You said before, Zak, that you and Aaron were paranormal investigators, right?”

            “Yes,” Zak nodded slightly.

            “So, yea, you know what I’m talking about when I say that?” Nick said.

            “Yea,” he replied and shifted in his seat so he leaned toward Nick, elbows resting on the edge of the table slightly, “What kind of things do you see?”

            And, of course, the waiter had to come up at that exact moment with their drinks in hand. Taking the tall glass of water, Erik the waiter placed it down in front of Nick who mumbled ‘thanks.’ He then grabbed the small tumbler glass full of whiskey and placed it in front of Zak. And, last came Aaron’s Cola with a single cherry floating at the top of the fizzy, brown liquid. Aaron was practically bouncing up and down in his seat at the sight of the marinated fruit and said a quick ‘thank you’ to the man. Erik then pulled out his notepad and asked for their order. Once their order was taken, Zak turned back to Nick.

            “So, what kind of things did you see?” he repeated his question. Aaron plucked the cheery from his soda glass and placed it in his mouth. The cherry stick stuck out of his mouth and twirled as his tongue swirled around the fruit. Zak glanced at Aaron and scoffed with a smirk on his face. Aaron gave Zak a look of confusion as he pulled the leftover cherry from his mouth and on the paper coaster beneath his drink.

            However, Nick’s mind flashed to a memory he had hoped to forget, “It was little things at first, voices and noises, but then it grew bigger. I began to see people and flashes of another time. I thought I was crazy. Then, my father and mother began to believe me as they also began to see things and my mother was affected by it and not in the good way.”

            “You said exorcism at the hotel, was that what happened?” Zak asked; his fingers cupped around the whiskey tumbler.

            “Yes.”


	8. | Chapter 6 | Lust

_ _

* * *

 

_“His room was calm and pale blue; posters of Lego superheroes and family portraits decorated the walls. His bed sat in one corner of the room, mismatched sheets pulled from the mattress and lying in a neat pile on top of it, his mother hadn’t come to help him latch them down. He was crying; his voice lost in his throat. His red rimmed, brown eyes lay on the door of his room, waiting for his mother to come racing in. She didn’t. She wouldn’t. He cried harder._

_“Shhh,” a male voice slithered across the walls of his room. He stopped crying and his eyes ran over his room trying to search for the person who silenced him, “Shhh,” the man’s voice came again and Nicholas stood up on his chubby legs. Though he was only ten years old, he still had quite a bit of baby fat left on his body. He turned around and looked behind him, but there was nothing, “Nick,” it called out to him. He had heard that voice before, calling to him from his nightmares, “Nick,” the voice changed, getting more high pitched and feminine, “Nick!” it was a female scream now and he burst into tears again, “Nick!” his mother screamed for him, the voice now coming from the living room downstairs, “Nick!”_

_“Mom!” he cried out, his little heart racing. He had no idea what was going on in his home._

_Ever since he fell out of that tree, odd things happened in his home. He would wake up and hear hush voices speaking to each other and at him, but he never responded. Objects would move and go flying. Once, he saw his mother fly across the room and he was so scared. After that moment, his family believed that their house had other people in it besides them. He remembered over hearing words he didn’t know between his mother and father late one night: ‘_ haunted _,’ ‘_ demon _,’ ‘_ paranormal _.’ He had heard of ‘_ demon’ _before from church and knew the Devil controlled them and they were bad. He was confused though. He thought it was all just stories save for the one about a man called Jesus and his father, God; at least that was what church had told him. In his small, child mind, he didn’t think something so evil could roam a good Creation such as the Earth._

_“Nick!” his mother screamed for him downstairs and he rushed out the door despite what his father had told him._

_He ran to the staircase. His mother’s screams grew louder and beneath them he could hear an inhuman growl, like a dog, a mean dog. Sliding down the carpet stairs, his head poked out between the columns holding the railing up. Tears rolled down his face as his innocent eyes collected the scene in before him._

_His mother was tied to one of the chairs from the dining room and placed in the middle of the room; the coffee table turned over one of the sofa’s lining the wall. Her body rolled across the chair, the rope cutting into her skin, blood trickling down the ropes and turning them into a rusty color. Her head was tossed back, his name screaming form her lips which were bloodied from how many times she bit her own lip. His mother’s eyes were wild and dark and switched lazily back and forth between the two men who stood before her. Nick’s eyes fell to them and recognized them both. The one to his left was his father, his back hunched in worry. The other was their priest, Father Bélidor. He was a tall, black figure with a striking, white pile of hair on his head. In one head, he held a black, leather bound book and in the other a wooden cross._

_Suddenly, his mother stopped screaming and turned to look at the staircase, her lips turning into an evil smirk, teeth blinding white as she looked straight at him. She burst into laughter, her voice deep like a man’s. Nick shook with fear at the sight. This wasn’t his mother._

_His father turned to look at his son and his face grew angry. He had never blown up on his family, always being kind and considerate, but this was a rare occasion, “Nickolas Groff!” he yelled, “I thought I told you to stay in your room-!”_

_“Mr. Groff!” Father Bélidor snapped at the younger man, “Now’s not the time,” and from his black robe, pulled out a bottle of what looked like water to young Nick, a cross was carved into the glass, “Here! Sprinkle this on your wife, or you may not have one!”_

_Turning away from Nick, his father grabbed the bottle and began to sprinkle the liquid on his mother. She hissed and growled each time the liquid touched her skin. Meanwhile, Father Bélidor began to speak another language that Nick had heard in certain moments in his church, “_ _Porro si in digito Dei eicio daemonia profecto praevenit in vos regnum Dei_ _(But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you),” with each word, his mother tossed her head back. Nick could feel something in the air, now, in that room. It was hard for him to breathe and he felt like a heavy mist fell on top of him. The feeling continued to intensify. Then, as quickly as the feeling was there, it was gone. The living room fell quiet; the only sounds were Nick’s crying and the two men breathing heavily._

_“Father,” Nick’s father asked their priest in a gentle voice, “Is she…?” he trailed off._

_Father_ _Bélidor walked up to Nick’s mother. In anticipation and curiosity, Nick clutched at the bars, his knuckles going white, “Mom,” his voice was barely audible, but he repeated the word like a mantra, his bottom lip trembling. His world was flipped upside down and at such a young age, and his father glanced at him with worry. His father’s face, though, turned to shock to see his son’s eyes age in that moment. He sighed and knew he should have locked his son’s door, no boy should have seen what he was seeing._

_“She’s alive,” was all Father Bélidor could say before his mother began to scream once again. The heavy air was back and it weighed down upon all of them. Both men backed up away from his mother, her head tossing back and forth on her shoulders. Her screams turned to snarls and her head snapped forward, her brown waves, like his own, bounced. She began to laugh._

_“You think you can get rid of me,_ priest _?” she snarled, her voice deep, and she laughed again._

_“In the name of God,” Father Bélidor spoke, ignoring his mother’s comments, and raised the cross above her head, “You will leave this woman’s body and this home and never return!” his mother continued to laugh, “They are under the protection of the Lord. You have no control over them!”_

_“Oh, priest,” his mother purred, Nick could hear her voice beneath the deeper one, but just barely, “They have_ all _been under my control,” and she burst into more insane laughter._

_“Leave my house!” his father spoke up at last, his voice shaky though, “Leave us alone! You don’t belong here!”_

_“I will stay as long as I like!” his mother snapped at her husband, spit flying form her mouth. To Nick, she reminded him of the lions at the zoo or one of the snakes he saw attack a dead mouse in the Reptile House. Her eyes were wild and angry._

_Nick whimpered. He wanted his mother back. He wanted her warm voice in his ear and the chocolate chip pancakes she made when he was sick. He wanted her hugs and the soft kisses on his forehead when he ran for the school bus in the mornings. He didn’t want this empty shell._

_“Leave this house, demon!” Father Bélidor growled, his knuckles white on the cross, “These people are not your temple. The Lord, God, shall protect them and you will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven and be forgiven.”_

_“Oh, no!” the thing in his mother growled, but it was the same tone of voice Nick heard in his mother whenever she played with him and her figurine he gave her would die… sarcasm, “I’m so scared!” his mother smiled as she looked up at the priest. She cried out with laughter, “_ The Kingdom of God _,” the words were venom and she spat at the priest, who backed away like she just spewed fire, “I_ curse _those_ saints _and your_ angels _._ God is nothing _!” her head turned to Nick’s father now, “You mortals know nothing. God will_ never _welcome you,” her sour expression, though, turned to a joyous smile, “Now,_ my _Lord, on the other hand,” the thing in his mother purred so gracefully, “My Lord will welcome you all. He holds His arms wide for your woman and children. My brother and sisters worship Him as your kind will worship Us. We’re the only gate open at the Crossroads,” then an idea spread across his mother’s features, “How about I offer to you what my Lord’s true power looks like to your mortal eyes?” Nick glanced at his father and Father Bélidor who were practically frozen to their spots. His ten year old mind was curious as to what this thing in his mother could do, this ‘_ demon _.’_

_“You will do no such thing,” the priest finally said, “The Holy Spirit falls upon us all and when you stand before the Lord, you will be forgiven.”_

_His mother simply laughed, tossing her head back. Her laughter turned into sigh ad she smiled up at the ceiling, “Hmmm… it had begun, priest,” and Nick’s eyes narrowed in on the seams of the walls and ceiling of the living room. Black liquid, the edges a light red color, began to leek from the house. Feeling warm liquid seep into his pajama pants, Nick looked down at his knees. His eyes stared at it with curiosity. Reaching down, his fingers carefully touched it and raised it up to his eye level. The liquid wasn’t black, but red and it looked like blood, “Feast your eyes, priest of_ God _, on the powers of_ my _Lord, the Cloven Footed One, the Angel of Light,_ King _of Babylon,_ the God of this age _, Satan,” the demon growled joyfully, a wide smile on his mother’s face._

_Nick looked back at his father and the priest. His father seemed to unfreeze himself first and he turned around to Nick. With quick strides, he came to the stairs, rushing up it to Nick, “Dad,” Nick reached out to the older man. His father picked him up like he was Superman and rushed him to his parent’s bedroom. Nick’s little heart pounded in his chest, he was so scared._

_“Nick,” his father spoke quietly as he dug in the side table beside the bed, “I need you to stay here. No matter what you hear down there, stay here,” and from the drawer, Nick’s father pulled out a silver rosary, the beads dull from not being polished, “Hold this, Nick. Say the Lord’s Prayer if you get scared,” Nick nodded, taking the rosary in his young hands, “Do you understand, Nick?”_

_“Yes, dad,” Nick responded._

_His father sighed and leaned forward, pressing one of his rare kissed to Nick’s brow, “I love you, Nick.”_

_“Love you too, dad,” Nick felt like he was saying goodbye to his father, the way he said goodbye to his friends when camp was over in the summer._

_Then, as quickly as his father was there, he was gone. Nick was left alone in his parent’s bed, the rosary turning sweaty in his white knuckled hands. Minutes passed and he left the house shake, his ear drums pounding in his skull. His eyes watered and he clasped his hands over his ears, the rosary banging against the side of his head._

_“Our Father, who art in heaven,” he began to say the prayer he had learned only a year ago. The drumming in his head got louder and louder, “Hallowed be thy name,” he closed his eyes, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,” in his mind, he saw the faces of his mother and father, “On Earth as it is in Heaven,” he was scared, “Give us this day our daily bread,” he started to cry as the noise got so loud. He could hear the windows begin to shake, “And forgive us our trespasses,” the word stumbled in his mouth, so all that came out were small hissing sounds, “As we forgive those who trespass against us,”_ Is this was it felt like to be in an earthquake, _he thought_ , is this what California feels? _“And lead us not from temptation, but deliver us from evil,” it was so loud now and he was so scared._ Was mom safe _, he thought_ , and what about dad? _“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,”_ Please be safe _, “Forever and ever,” and at that moment, the glass in the windows shattered, spilling out onto the lawn below. The house fell silent, but all Nick could hear was his heartbeat in his ears, “Amen,” and the word was barely a whisper._


	9. | Chapter 7 | Gluttony

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157063067@N06/37102192096/in/dateposted-public/)

 

           The food came quickly, just as Nick finished telling his story, the aroma flooding Nick’s nose and his taste buds swarmed in his mouth. The smell was so strong. Zak and Nick waited till each of their own plates was set down in front of them, but Aaron gorged himself as soon as the plate was in reach. Zak rolled his eyes while Nick laughed.

            “Forgive Aaron,” Zak turned to Nick, “He quite likes his food,” Nick continued to laugh as Aaron gave a joyful smile, his cheeks bulging like a squirrel saving food for winter, “And he doesn’t know quite when to stop.”

            “Mhmneverm shlop,” Aaron replied, the food in his mouth muffling the words.

            “ _Of course_ you can stop,” Zak said, translating Aaron’s words for Nick, “There’s a thing called diets and exercising.”

            Aaron shook his head, picking up his fork and poking it at Zak. He turned to Nick, swallowing the food in his mouth, “Don’t listen to this guy, Nick. He’ll lead you down all sorts of road.”

            Zak laughed and began to eat his meal, “I have no idea what you are talking about,” Nick watched the two men playfully fight and found it very entertaining. It made him laugh and his cheeks began to hurt and the evening had not even ended yet.

            “ _Oh_!” Aaron scoffed, “You know _exactly_ what I am talking about, Zak. Does _peer_ pressure sound familiar?”

            Zak almost spilled the food in his mouth out onto his plate again at Aaron’s words, “Don’t use those mortal terms with me,” he teased and then, realizing his mistake, froze. Nick, though, did not seem to notice and simply thought the words had some humorous history to them that he did not know. He glanced between Aaron and Zak, laughter spilling from his lips still. Aaron, meanwhile, was frozen like a statue. His eyes, though, continued to move and switch between Zak and Nick, “I mean. Ummm… Don’t use those _mere_ terms with me,” Zak’s eyes looked back and forth to Nick and Aaron, “Ah!” Zak gave an exasperated sigh, “You know what I mean, Aaron.”

            Aaron gave a nervous chuckle and turned back to his food, “ _Anyway_ ,” he said and stuffed a piece of his food in his mouth, “Nick,” Aaron turned to the smaller man across from him, swallowing, “Back to your story, what happened after the loud noise?”

            “Ummm,” Nick thought for a moment, though he knew the answer, “I, honestly, can’t remember,” Zak glanced at Aaron carefully, “It’s like that whole part of my memory is completely disappeared.”

            “Understandable,” Zak replied with a light nod, “Demons,” he simply said, “They can wipe a memory clean and replace it with false one’s. Maybe what happened to you, according to you, is not really happened,” Aaron coughed, suddenly, a smile on his lips. Nick just stared at Zak like he was a complete stranger and Zak burst out into laughter, “I’m joking, Nick. Demons can’t do that,” Nick smiled and gave a light chuckle; he didn’t find the humor in Zak’s words.

            At that moment, the waiter came back to them and took their empty plates, returning a few short minutes later with the check which Zak grabbed before Nick could take.

            “Oh, you didn’t have too,” Nick replied softly.

            “I wished,” Zak said and Nick found his words odd. Zak’s voice sounded old, from the very moment Nick met him, but his speech was modern, save for the few times Nick heard him talk like this.

            Nick nodded and allowed the waiter to take the check back, “So, Zak,” Nick said a couple moments later, “How long have you been paranormal investigators for?”

            “Ummm,” Zak turned to Aaron, his eyes begging for an answer, “How long has it been, Aaron?”

            “Ummm, ‘bout a couple months,” Aaron replied.

            “Yea!” Zak yelled, turning to Nick with an odd smile, “We’re still kind of new to it. Do you know anything about hunting ghosts?”

            Several of the tables around them, Nick noted, glanced at them with an odd expression, “Not much outside the exorcist,” he said, “I do know that you need camera’s and voice recorders to capture evidence, otherwise, people will think you’re nuts,” he replied.

            Zak smiled and looked at Aaron, who smiled and nodded, “Well, you certainly know more than we do,” then the waiter came back and handed the check back to Zak.

            “Thank you for dining with VooDoo Steakhouse this evening, gentleman,” Erik, Nick remembered his name, said, “I hope you have a great rest of the evening.”

            “Thank you,” Nick replied.

            “Thanks, man,” Aaron answered giving his own goofy tone, while Zak simply nodded and signed the sheet of paper hidden inside.

            Nick sighed and stood up from his seat, “Well, this has been nice.”

            Zak stood up quickly, his eyes seeking out Nick’s, and with a quick kick to his companion’s knee, Aaron stood up with a groan, “It has been nice, but Aaron and I were wondering if maybe,” Zak asked bashfully,  “Well, would you like to join our group?”

            Nick froze for a moment, “What?”

            “You, me, Aaron, group,” Zak replied with a teasing smile, “Hunting ghosts.”

            “I-I-I-I don’t know what to say,” Nick shook, lowering his head and scratching at his hair line.

            “Oh, please, Nick,” Aaron begged and Nick looked up at him, “We need you. Zak, maybe more,” Aaron laughed and Zak rolled his eyes.

            Nick followed Aaron, “Alright.”

            “Yes? Really?” Zak looked back to Nick.

            Their eyes connected; blue meeting brown, like the ocean crashing onto the rocky beach, dangerous and beautiful.

            “Yes.”

            Aaron held out his hand, breaking their eye contact, “Awesome, man! See you tomorrow, then!” and Nick shook the man’s large hand, losing himself in laughter. Aaron, to Nick, did remind him of a huge teddy bear. He turned to Zak, “Well, Zak, I’ll see you down by the car,” and Aaron left, disappearing into the flood of tables and youths.

            With a nervous chuckle, Zak turned to Nick, “Thank you, Nick.”

            “For what?”

            “Saying yes.”

            “’Course,” he smiled, “The paranormal had always interested me and you guys seem great; true people. I haven’t met people like you in a _very_ long time.”

            “Hopefully, that is a compliment.”

            “Nothing less.”

            Zak raised his hand to Nick, “Well, it has been a pleasure, Nick Groff,” and Nick grasped Zak’s hand in his own. With a silent gasp, before Nick’s eyes, he saw a flash of black feathers, like some fallen angel. There was a pale back, covered in tattoos of some unknown hand, but then there was a hand, tan and long and slender like his own falling on the pale back. Then the vision was gone and Zak let go of Nick’s hand, “You alright, there?”

            Nick gave a shaky sigh, “Yea,” and he glanced around at the people around him, but they were too absorbed in themselves.

            “See you tomorrow, then,” Zak replied, “Meet at the bar around lunch time to discuss our plans?”

            “Sounds good,” Nick replied, his mind felt foggy and all he could see was those black wings and that hand.

            “Till then,” he gave a nod and before Nick’s eyes, vanished into the tables around them like Aaron had.


	10. Part Two

“Are they not all ministering spirits, 

sent forth to minister for them 

who shall be heirs of salvation?”

- Hebrews 1:14 (King James Bible)


	11. | Chapter 8 | Bobby Mackie's Music World

**_Two Years Later_ ** **…**

 “All right, well,” he was out of breath as he turned to look at the camera being held by one of his best friends, Nick Groff. He smiled at the man, who gave him one in return from behind the camera. Zak looked behind him at the looming building, “We just got here,” his shifted the bags in his hands full of equipment and turned back to the camera in his best friend’s hands, “ We’re at Bobby Mackie’s Music World, also known as Hell’s Gate,” the nickname ruffled his wings, though they were hidden in his back. He could feel his other best friend, Aaron, shifted uncomfortably behind Nick in response to the name, too, “We’re not here for the music,” he shook his head in response, he continued to walk backwards to the building, “We’re here,” he paused, thinking of some excuse that the mortal’s would understand, “Because we’re gonna try and find out why the hell they call it Hell’s Gate,” he glanced at Aaron who shuffled behind Nick a couple feet away. That was a good enough reason.

            Taking a quick break, knowing that they would overlap another clip at that moment, he placed the bags down on the ground near the door. Turning to Aaron and Nick, he asked, “So, how was that?”

            “Great, man,” Aaron replied with a goofy smile, Nick giving a warming one in return.

            A few short seconds later, after telling the owners inside that they were ready to come in and start recording, Zak turned to Aaron and Nick, their camera’s on and rolling. He watched Nick shift the machine’s on him uncomfortably, a pair of headphones from his phone dangling in his ears, “Alright, you ready, Nick?” he asked, worried.

            Nick nodded, knowing that his voice wouldn’t be able to reach Zak’s microphone, and kept quiet.

            Zak turned around and walked to the door, a slight drizzle of rain falling down around them, but the humidity bathed them in sweat in seconds. They were in Kentucky, the South, and he did not like it, at all. The South was not a place he felt comfortable with, a land for the Devil. He much preferred the West and big cities, shinning bright like a million diamonds, a land of God.

 Returning back to the present, he paused when his eyes landed on a huge yellow sign through the glass door. He turned back to Aaron, a slight smirk on his face and glint in his eyes. Between Aaron and Zak, their eyes spoke a silent conversation. They had found a jackpot, “There’s a warning sign,” and he began to read it off as Nick filmed it through the glass, “‘ _This establishment is purported to be haunted. Management is not responsible and cannot be held liable for any actions of any ghosts/spirits on this premises_ ,’” Zak couldn’t contain his happiness and he pointed at it, “That is a sign I like to see, right before we get locked down in an location,” he smirked at the camera.

            Opening the door, his nose was flooded with the smell of burning wood, smoke from cigars, and the dull smell of alcohol. The room was huge inside, one side had a built in stage, wires covering the floors around the musical instruments. It was dark with only a few dull lights illuminating the stage and the few windows near the door behind them lighting the rest of the room. An older man walked up to them, skin darkened and wrinkles covering his face. He wore a pair of circular glasses and his salt-and-pepper hair was long, gracing his shoulders. Zak thought about his own immortality when looking at the man and he felt pity, pity for himself or the older man, he did not know.

            “Hello,” the man raised one of his hands to Zak, “I am Carl, the former caretaker.”

            Zak gave a friendly smile and shook the man’s hand, noting the grey blazer the man wore, “Hello. I am Zak Bagans and this is Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff,” he motioned to the cameras behind him. He studied the older man’s face for any signs that their last names, Zak and Aaron’s, were fakes. It was many nights ago that the two angels decided that they should have a last name and so they reached for the Yellow Pages and took two names, “We’re here-.”

            “Oh,” Carl smirked, “I know why you’re here and so glad of it too.”

            Zak crossed his arms across his chest, “You said ‘former caretaker.’ Do you not work here anymore?”

            “Not since the exorcist,” Carl said, but in a tone like he said it every day.

            Zak looked behind him at Nick, who simply nodded with nostalgia in his eyes. Zak knew that Nick’s exorcist was a tough spot, especially since he couldn’t remember anything afterwards, and over the years, Nick and Zak talked about it in private trying to get him to remember, “Exorcist?”

            “Yep,” Carl nodded, “I’ll explain later, but how about I show you around. Bobby Mackie wanted me to,” he looked around the room like something was watching him.

            Zak nodded, “That will be great,” and Carl led the small ghost hunters group farther into the depths of Hell’s Gate.

†††֎†††֎†††

            The guitar riffs exploded through the speaker system of their car. It was late afternoon and they had the windows down, the warm Kentucky wind blowing through the open car. Nick was driving, Zak beside him, and Aaron sat in the only open seat in the back, the rest having been taken over by their equipment, “ _Someday love will find you_ ,” the soft rock was thrilling in the way that old school eighties rock was. Zak knew that classic rock was one of those genres that all three of them could agree on, “ _Break those chains that bind you_ ,” and the soft voice of _Journey_ ’s lead singer sang across his ears, “ _One night will remind you_ ,” Zak could remember when this song came out, so many years ago. It had stayed in the charts for eight consecutive weeks and he heard it everywhere, “ _How we touched, And went our separate ways_ ,” Zak glanced at Nick beside him. Nick’s lips mouthed the words, his fingers thumping with the beat on the steering wheel. The rush of Kentucky wind ruffled his brown hair, “ _If he ever hurts you, True love won't desert you_.”

            There had always been something about Nick, ever since they met at the hotel in Las Vegas. Something Zak couldn’t put his finger on and he could not stop talking about it, much to Aaron’s annoyance. Zak hoped that Aaron did not chase him away with how many times he mentioned Zak’s nonstop chatter about the younger man, but now was proof that it didn’t.

            Zak could feel the drums pulsing in his feet due to Nick tuning the speakers so they would, “ _You know I still love you_ ,” Aaron’s large voice chimed in from the back seat and Nick burst out into laughter. He joined in a few seconds later with a roll of his eyes. Zak, simply, watched the two men singing outrageously out of tone and key silently. This is what he wanted to remember: Aaron’s immature humor and Nick’s cheerful laughter that always brought a smile to his face.

            “ _Though we touched_ ,” the music continued as they drove closer and closer to Bobby Mackie’s Music World, to Hell’s Gate, from their small, one room motel, “ _And went our separate ways_ ,” Zak’s mind drifted to the motel room. It was the cheapest they could find and it reminded Zak too much of his and Aaron’s apartment with all the same lighting and wallpaper, “ _Troubled times_ ,” Zak felt his wings shift beneath his skin, wanting so badly to release themselves from their fleshy prison, but he couldn’t. Nick did not know about his and Aaron’s immortality or their inhumanity, “ _Caught between confusions and pain, pain, pain_ ,” he so badly wanted to tell Nick and he could tell Aaron did to, ever since Nick became a part of their mission, unknowingly. Everything would have made sense and would have hurt less having to lie to his face every day.

  “ _Distant eyes_ ,” Nick, finally, noticed Zak watching him and glanced at him, still singing his heart out, “ _Promises we made were in vain_ ,” he smiled, heaven’s glorious light seemed to fall from his face as Zak was graced with the smile, “ _In vain, vain,”_ Nick looked back at the road and Zak glanced back at Aaron, “ _If you must go_ ,” the lyrics filled their senses, “ _I wish you love_ ,” Aaron’s hands flew, weaving around and playing invisible drums.

 “ _You'll never walk alone,”_ Zak was bursting out into laughter at the terrible, joyful face that was Aaron’s, “ _Take care my love, Miss you love_ ,” but just as the music was there, so loud and sensitive to his ears, it was gone.

 “Hey!” Aaron whined, a frown appearing on his lips as he stared down Nick, “Nick! What was that for?”

 Zak turned to look at Nick, “Besides having arrived,” Nick smirked and Zak looked out the window. Time had gone by so quickly and he hadn’t even realized they were there already, “I was thinking. We should do this every time before a lockdown. It’s refreshing, in an odd sort of way,” Zak couldn’t agree more.

 “I’m for it,” he responded, “Music, I find, is the perfect therapy.”

 Aaron made a strangled, coughing sound, but a single word came through that Zak heard too well with his ears, “Bullshit,” he laughed, Nick’s face covered with a puzzled expression at why a mere cough was so humorous. Little did Zak know was that these music therapy session before the lockdowns would begin to hurt and begin to be the best memories he would ever have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue was taken from the actual episode (Bobby Mackie's Music World).
> 
> Song credit: Separate Ways (World's Apart) by Journey


	12. | Chapter 9 | Hell's Gate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time will begin to skip around. Let me know if you are confused. They are still at Bobby Mackie’s in this chapter; Zak just has a flashback to the 2004 documentary.

            **_Several Hours Later…_**

            His skin crawled and burned. It felt like fire was racing across his skin, or, better yet, the feeling of Agent Orange. He had only been on this Earth for a little over one thousand, five hundred years when war plagued the land once again. It was a dishonorable war and it went by several names. The American’s called it the War to Win the Hearts and Minds, but it was the exact opposite. He called it the End of Humanity. He always laughed whenever he talked about it back then, when he was amongst the mortals in the jungle. Those other soldiers knew it by another name, Vietnam. He shook his head to rid himself of those memories. Now wouldn’t be a good time to start having those thoughts.

            With a shaky sigh, he thought about what the real reason for his skin to burn so badly was. His wings twitched dangerously beneath his skin; he knew exactly what was happening to him. Sighing to himself, again, but this time in disgust, he mentally banged his head against an invisible wall. How could he have been so stupid?

            Of course, the first thing that he did when he entered the notorious basement was try to anger the spirits there. But what he didn’t know was that there was a demon here. He heard from Carl, the old care taker of Bobby Mackie’s Music World, that he was possessed and everyone here believed it to be so. The odd thing was that he never felt a demon here in the building during the entire time, but the burning on his back told him otherwise.

            Zak turned to Aaron with a worried glance. With their sensitive eyes, Aaron saw the look and nodded to him, mouthing, “I know,” and turned to look back down at the tiny screen of the video camera.

            Zak looked down at his camera screen and continued to move further and further into the basement; “Is there anybody in here?” he called out. He paused for a moment, waiting to hear something, but there was nothing, “We’re here for you,” he warned the spirits there and, with that, he could feel the sudden shift in the air around him like a mass of people were trying to get away from something, “We’re looking for you!” He paused in his place as he felt something brush over his chest, it felt like fingers pushing him away. Thinking nothing of it, he continued forward, leading Aaron and Nick to the well.

            “My name is Zak. I got Aaron and Nick with me,” he introduced them, “And you know what? We don’t fear any of you,” which was true.

            After plenty of investigations by themselves and producing that documentary that got them the spotlight on the Travel Channel, they had learned that there was no need to fear the dead, mortal souls. Zak had to smile though as he thought about the documentary. It was one of his proudest moments, and he had very little of those, but it was also one of his most dangerous moments. It was just Zak and Nick, Aaron had left to go back to Las Vegas for a personal reason that Zak knew too much about, but that was a story for another time. They were utterly alone, Zak and Nick, in the Goldfield Motel, Virginia City; it was only about a couple hours north of the City of Sin. The darkness was so thick in that building, the same thickness that Zak could feel at that moment in Bobby Mackie’s basement.

_They were being watched and both males could sense it. To Zak Bagans, it felt like every room they passed a person was standing in the doorway and watching them. A heavy mass settled on top of them and he felt like he was holding the weight of the world on his shoulders._

_He was freaked out. Yes, Zak Bagans, a full grown angel, was freaked out and… dare he say? Scared out his mind, but kept his composure for the sake of the camera. They had to appear calm or they would never get their show onto the Travel Channel and their mission would fail. But, that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to appear calm. A man stood behind him, his best mortal friend, Nick Groff; face younger than his own._

_They had been friends for a couple years now since their dinner at the Voodoo Steakhouse in Las Vegas and Zak was more than ecstatic to have met him and finally got to know the mortal human. But, Zak could feel something growing in the back of his mind towards the human male, a feeling that he did not have towards Aaron. He tried to ignore it the best he could._

_With every step they took inside the Goldfield motel, Zak could feel the younger man beside him as if the mortal was crawling across his skin. Zak could always sense where people were around him, but with Nick, that sense was on hyper drive. All he knew was that even in a crowded room, Zak would know where Nick was; that, even in a pitch dark room full of potential demons, Zak would still know where he was._

_"We heard you!" They rounded the corner, Nick following behind him as the room became more narrower. Zak could feel his wings flutter beneath his skin and he knew something was going to happen, something demonic, "But I don't think that was enough," he taunted, his testosterone high, urges surged through him, "I think you're a coward!"_

_They entered the next room, the fluttering of his wings now felt like they were about to burst forth from their fleshy prison. Zak had to sigh and concentrate on them so they would now, "You're nothing!"_

_In response from the darkest corner of the room, a large brick came flying at them. Through their small LCD screens, it was a white blur, but Zak's heartbeat raced._ It was exactly like the movies, _he thought. Then he saw the wood pile rise off the floor and he screamed, Nick echoing him behind him._

_"Fuck, go!" Zak yelled and he ran, he needed to get out._

_His eyes shifted over the darkened halls, so dark that even his angelic eyes could not pierce the veil. Through the camera screen, he picked the halls that looked like the way out. Turning left and turning right, he found himself in another darkened room. He had picked the wrong way, he thought as he came to a stop, chest heaving with each breath he took._

_"Nick?" He turned to look behind him, hand reaching out to touch the younger man, but all he felt was empty air, "Nick!" He called out for his best friend, eyes wide with fear that something happened to him. Though he was an angel, he could not save the mortal from Hell._

_"Zak!" Nick called out him from the dark, his voice sounding like it was miles away._

_"Nick!" He screamed so loudly and Zak needed to find him, his mind yelled at him to._

_"Zak!" The pain in Nick's voice sent a shiver of fear down his spine. He sounded like he was being tortured._

_Zak took a shaky breath, he needed to calm down to find Nick, and it was the only way to get them both out. Raising the camera to eyes level, he searched for a way out, but all he could see were sharp corners that dark entities could come around and slaughter him like a common Earth animal, "Jesus Christ, please help me," he whined._

_Then, just as he was about to enter a new room, a feminine cry met his ears. He jumped and gave a scream. He could hear Nick calling out from behind him and he ran._

_As he made his way blind through the halls, all he could think was they were in a_ fucking _horror movie and he prayed to God that they made it out alive. He needed Nick to make it out alive at least. Zak couldn't imagine life without his best friend, a man who had helped Aaron and his cause in more ways than he will realize._

_Zak rounded another corner and there was Nick. The mortal man was walking in circle, hands waving around him. Nick was screaming and calling out Zak's name, begging him to find him still. Zak could hardly believe he found Nick and he wasn't even sure how he found him, but there he was._

_Zak rushed forward toward the younger man, wrapping his arms around the shaking limbs of his best friend, "Nick, it's me. I'm here. I've got you," Nick twisted at first in alarm, but when his nose inhaled the deep male scent, he calmed down._

_"Zak," Nick whined, burying his head inside Zak's chest, "Zak."_

_The older man sighed and looked out beyond the room they were in, whatever it was. His heart sped up as his wings shifted beneath his skin. Ignoring the thought that Nick felt his wings, all he could think was that they were still in danger, "Nick," he tried to pull away from him; his arms, though, did not want to let go, "We need to leave."_

_Nick nods and, reluctantly, let go of him. Together, they blindly made their way up the staircase and onto the first floor. Without even bothering about the extra equipment they had laying there, they ran for the front door. They hoped it was dawn already so they could be let out, but when Nick reached for the doorknob, their hopes were diminished._

_"It's locked," Nick whispered, his gaze shifting from Zak to the dark hallway behind them._

_Zak gave a growl of rage and his first connected with the hard wood of the front door repeatedly. Each time he hit it, he could feel his knuckles split apart. Anger filled his mind, he needed to get out, he needed Nick to get out. Nick saw this and touched Zak carefully on his shoulder, "Zak, stop, please."_

_The angelic man lowered his hands at Nick's tone of voice. He glanced back at the younger man, "Nick, I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come. This was a mista-."_

_"Come," Nick interrupted Zak’s apology as a sudden idea crossed his mind. He refused to listen to Zak's apology about the scars they were going to have after this night._

_"What? Nick?" Zak asked as Nick led the two of them further into the building._

_"Just come with me, Zak," and they ran up the stairs to the second floor, the old wooden floor creaked beneath their weight. Zak continued to feel something in the building, though they were out of the basement, and it annoyed his angelic senses._

_When Nick paused in front of one of the open windows, Zak turned to him with wide eyes, "Nick? Are you fucking insane?"_

_"It's the only choice we have, Zak," Nick reasoned as he turned off his and Zak's camera and placing them, strapped firmly, to his back, "Either we wait here till dawn with this demon and risk possession, or we leave and never come back again. Which do you want?"_

_Zak leaned out the window; his gaze looked down at the height. It was not high enough to kill a mortal, but if Nick landed wrong, he could break something. Zak could easily survive the height with his immortal abilities. Falling into his character, he gave a shaky sigh, "Shit, I hate heights," he mumbled._

_Then he felt a hand slide through his and he looked up at Nick who gave him a reassuring smile, "Together then," and they jumped._

 


	13. Trailer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on youtube--> g-o-t-a-m  
> Ghost Adventures (Zak /Nick mostly) YouTube--> ghxstadvxntxres


	14. | Chapter 10 | When the Devil Comes A Knockin’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: they are still at Bobby Mackey’s (dialogue does not match the episode)

            “Hello?” Nick called out into the darkness of Bobby Mackey’s infamous basement, “Can you, please, speak to me?” but his question was met by silence.

            “Okay,” Zak replied as he brushed past the younger man and through the doorway, “Let’s go to the well and set up one of our cameras,” a silent agreement echoed between the three men as Zak led the way.

            The well room was small with two doorways in and out and three, large, open windows on the adjacent walls. A wooden walkaway extended over the dirt floor and to the left, a small hole punctured the ground. It was so black, even in the darkness, that it seemed that even light could not seep into it.

As Aaron stepped into the room, he felt anger rush over his skin like an electrical charge and he stepped back into the hallway. Something did not feel right with him going in there. He felt a sudden draw to the closest space some feet next to him; he identified that within the room was the staircase to nowhere. Aaron knew, from the interviews the previous day that several people believed it was the stairway to heaven. He smirked behind his camera screen.

            Suddenly he heard a loud growl reach his ears and he jumped back with a yelp, “Zak!” he cried out. It was habit.

            “What?” Aaron heard the older angel call out from the well room.

            “I just heard a growl, dude!”

            “Were you recording?” Nick asked next.

            “No, but I know I caught it on camera!” Aaron responded back, cursing himself for not having the recorder going.

            “Alright!” Zak called out again in his dominant voice, “Everybody, stand still. I’m going to start a session,” the basement fell silent as Zak pressed the record button on the small, silver device, “Zak, Nick, and Aaron in the basement,” he marked the sound bite and began to speak again, “Hello, what is your name?”

            When Zak could hear no words, he motioned to Nick to continue asking the questions, “Do you know that you are dead?” yet again, there was no response and he asked another question, “When did you die?” and they continued like this, asking questions back and forth with no answer.

            Zak brought the recorder to his mouth, “End of session,” and he placed the recorder in his pocket to be listened to later. He turned to Aaron as an idea crossed his mind, “How about we do a spirit box session and split up?” through his blue eyes he tried to tell Aaron that he was going to try and speak to the demon that resided in here in order to release the spirits. Aaron got the message and plucked from his “army vest,” as Zak called it, the small, circular device.

            “I’ll go to the stairs with it,” Aaron replied.

            Nick gave Zak a soft smile, “I’ll go back to the entrance and cover that front room.”

            Zak smiled back, “Okay,” and watched the younger man’s retreating figure.

            It had been two years since they had befriended the mortal and yet, Zak could not get enough of him. Nick Groff was the Light on this darkened Earth and everything Zak had ever said negatively about the mortals did not reflect upon this human. Zak always found his mind drifting to the younger man and the seemingly, endless summer nights at Aaron and his apartment. Nor could the fallen angel forget the laughter as they crowded around a pizza or the glistening glow that the mortal always seemed to have when they were about to enter supposedly haunted locations. Zak had never met another mortal or another angel like him, but, then again, Nick could not compare to even the heavenliest of angels.

            “Go ahead, Aaron!” Zak called out and his ears picked up the loud noise that the spirit box emitted.

            Slowly, the fallen angel turned the camera so he was looking down upon the well, Hell’s Gate as the mortals called it. In the distance he could hear Aaron asking more questions, but it was faded. Zak could feel something fall over him, a wave of static electricity. It was sudden as all demonic activity was. The presence pushed at his mind, but he pushed at it back.

            “No,” he growled so low and shut his eyes, body slumping forward.

            “Zak!” Nick cried out suddenly from the darkness.

            “No,” he growled again, his mind reaching out toward the younger man, but his body was stuck as it tried to fight the demonic presence, “ _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God), _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God), _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God),” he repeated, his voice growing shakier and shakier as time ran past.

            “Zak!” Nick cried out again, “Come here!”

            “ _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God),” Zak growled.

            ‘ _You are not a child of God, Zachary_ ,’ a voice answered back in his mind, ‘ _Are you?’_ but he did not want to listen to it, he refused to listen to it.

            “Nick!” he felt a hand touch his shoulder, but he could not tell who it was, “Get in here!” it was Aaron’s voice though.

            Zak’s body began to shake as he mentally battled the demon attacking him, “ _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God).”

            “Zak?” Aaron called out to him through the darkness and he could hear Nick’s faint, but defined, footsteps coming closer to them. Zak repeated the blessed words and Aaron knew what was happening, “Oh, shit, bro,” Nick stepped into the well room with them, rushing over to the older man.

            “Zak!”

            One look was all Nick needed. He turned to Aaron, “We need the priest!”

            Aaron nodded, “Yes, but do you have it, Zak?” Nick looked at the other man with a look of confusion. He didn’t understand why Aaron wasn’t rushing for the door to get the priest.

            Zak gave a loud shaky groan, his lips trembling, and he cried out in pain, “ _Hoc sub protectione Dei_ (This body is under the protection of God).”

            “Yep!” Aaron exclaimed and he started running, “I’m getting the priest!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short. I have made it up to you guys in the next chapter! It's "very" long!   
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please comment!


	15. | Chapter 11 | Possessions Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter for you guys to apologize for that month of absence!
> 
> Note: this is the missing scene of Zak’s possession from the episode.   
> Also, the Latin at the end of the chapter (you will know what I am talking about) will be revealed towards the end of the novel. If you want to know what it says and spoil it, just google translate from Latin to preferred language.  
> “Nick and I have seen things that nobody else, watching this, has saw” (season 8 episode 5- about the unrecorded exorcism)

Bishop James Long was a large man overall and everything about him could make anyone realize that he carried God’s power on his back like a cross. He was bald with piercing eyes and a voice that could penetrate anyone’s soul. Nick was glad for that for his best friend needed that power.

“I think it’s best if you stop recording,” the bishop said, turning his penetrating eyes away from Zak.

Nick nodded and he and Aaron placed their camera’s down on the ground. They both knew that they would explain what was about to happen to their fans later on, but they, now, needed to focus on trying to free Zak from whatever negative entity held him. Bishop Long turned back to Zak, flipping his Bible open, and placed a hand on Zak’s hunched back.

Nick’s brown eyes, soft like brownies, landed on the hunched figure of his best friend. Zak Bagans was not himself and Nick knew it better than anyone in this damned basement, even Aaron or so the younger man believed. The blue eyes, which he had noted were so crystal at the beginning of the investigation, were dark and raging with an unknown power like the ocean. Nick couldn't find the man he knew within its deep color.

" _Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei_ ," the priest spoke with a somber voice as he raised his hand and made the Sign of the Cross, " _Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu_ ," he made the Sign of the Cross over Zak and, with each word, Nick felt like his heart was being stabbed, " _Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus_."

Before this moment, everything was calm and at peace. Then, the priest made the third Sign of the Cross, " _Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo_."

Zak began to snarl, teeth bared like a wolf, " _Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum_ ," Nick observed spittle flying from the older man's mouth between his snarls and growls, " _qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos_."

"Stop," Zak's voice was so low and so gruff and so in pain that Nick could barely make out what the man was saying.

Nick looked at the priest with alarmed eyes and even stepped forward toward the older man, but the priest shook his head as he spoke the last words, " _et saeculum per ignem_."

Zak screeched, head tossed back so violently that bone should have broken, but it did not, “ _Stop, priest_!”

It was not his voice.

“Zak?” Nick stepped forward carefully toward the man.

“No, Mr. Groff!” the priest held his hand out toward the man to stop him from coming forward, Nick stared at him in confusion, “If you go near him, you risk possession, too!” Nick backed away and turned his gaze back to Zak, who stared at him with a dark expression. It was the same look that his mother held when she stared at him on the staircase in his childhood home.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Nick warned.

Zak smirked, but it was not that humorous, angelic one that Nick knew well. This was devious, “ _Like what?_ ”

“Like that!”

“ _Like I want to devour you_?”

Nick could feel Zak’s inhuman gaze flow up his body and down it. It unnerved him and, yet, there was an obscure area of his mind that thrilled at the energy pouring in that stare, “Yes.”

“ _You like it_ ,” Zak chuckled lightly and shifted in his seat. Realizing something was wrong with his hands, Zak looked down at his sides and he began to laugh, a sound coming from deep in his chest, “ _Nice. Cuffs_ ,” his eyes turned to the priest, “ _Do you think these can hold me?”_

Bishop Long ignored the demon that held Zak and returned back to his bible, “Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel,” and he grabbed his cross from a nearby table, “In the name of the Father,” in the air before Zak, Bishop Long made another Sign of the Cross with the wooden symbol, “And of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Zak growled low in warning, “Amen.”

“Amen,” Nick replied.

“Amen,” Aaron echoed.

“Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies!” Bishop Long called out as if he was actually trying to summon said “Prince” to their little hell hole, “Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in our battle against principalities and powers, against the rules of this world of darkness,” Zak began to laugh, the same deep sound from earlier, “Against the spirits of wickedness in the high places!”

“ _Oh, yes_!” Zak chuckled, “ _Perfection! You think your_ precious _Archangel is going to come to your aid?_ ”

“Come to the assistance of men!” Bishop Long continued to ignore the demon’s taunts, “Whom God has created to His likeness!”

“ _I’ve met your_ Saint Michael,” Zak said the name distastefully, “ _And he will do_ nothing!”

“And whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil,” the priest continued to say the prayer, “The Holy Church venerates you as her guardian and protector-.”

Zak interrupted the priest’s words by mocking a game buzzer, “ _Wrong! In the dictionary, under what protects your Holy Goddamned Church, it says see The Devil and the Seven Deadly Sins!_ ”

Bishop Long just gave a heavy sigh and moved the cross over Zak’s head, barely touching the older man’s skin, but it burned, “To you, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven.”

“ _Stop talking, you filthy priest_!” Zak growled and cried out in pain as Bishop Long touched the wooden cross to the other man’s forehead leaving behind an angry red burn.

“Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church! Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us!”

Zak laughed once more, “ _If only you knew what I have done in this basement! If only you knew what this_ animal _I hold onto has done_!” Nick didn’t understand why the demon called Zak an animal and with such distaste; he found it odd.

Bishop Long pressed the cross again to Zak’s skin, burning the flesh beneath the power of God, “Leave, foul beast, or I will say the exorcism prayer!”

Zak’s inhuman screams of pain, like screeching of birds, turned to an evil-sounding laughter. He stared up at the priest with harsh, demanding eyes, “ _Fuck you!”_

“So bet it,” Bishop Long sighed and cleared his throat, looking down at his bible in his hand, “In the name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed-.”

“ _Blah, blah, blah, Apostles, blah, blah, blah, Saints_ ,” Zak mocked the priest, “ _Yes, yes, we_ know _the rest_!” and he chuckled, “ _And here I thought you were an_ actual _Bishop!”_

“We drive you from us!” he brought the cross down on the side of Zak’s face, the other man screeching in pain, “Whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assembles and sects!”

“ _Come on, Bishop!”_ Zak growled under the pain.

“The Most High God commands you!” the bishop bellowed, “He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal!”

“ _I_ am _equal!_ ”

“God the Father commands you! God the Son commands you! God the Holy Ghost Commands you!”

“ _Yes, command me!”_ Zak continued to growl and snidely remarked, “ _God knows I love to be commanded_ ,” his blue eyes landed on Nick, “ _If you_ know _what I mean_ ,” the priest pressed the cross against the fallen angels skin, burning it once again. The demon meant something much more vulgar then the simple “command.”

“ _Thus_!” Bishop Long thundered like a storm, “Cursed dragon, and your, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, by the true God, by the Holy God, by the God who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting-.”

Zak laughed, “ _Completely bullshit. Clearly no one has ever read the fine print when they sold their soul to God_.”

“Stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation, stop harming the Church and hinder her liberty.”

“ _Awww_ ,” Zak mocked his pity, “ _You’re taking all the fun away from my kind_.”

“Begone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man’s salvations!”

Zak just laughed.

Nick glanced behind him at Aaron and was shocked to find that he had no expression what-so-ever on his face. It was complete emptiness. Nick was confused to this.

“Aaron?” Bishop Long called out to the other male and Nick watched as he grew an expression of worry as he turned to the religious man.

“Yes?”

“Come here, please,” the priest requested and the angel listened.

Nick felt helpless as the two conversed in hushed tones like they were coming up with some secret plan. So, his gaze fell upon his best friend. Zak shifted his own gaze to the younger man, the burns healing over the older man’s skin like two fabric pieces being sewed together.

“ _You don’t know do you?”_ Zak spoke in his mind and Nick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the demon’s words and power.

“ _Know what?”_ Nick thought hoping that this communication door worked both ways.

Zak smirked, “ _Oh, this is perfect. I wonder if I should just spill the beans, as the mortal say, right now about your friend here.”_

_“What about him?”_

“Nick?” Aaron’s voice interrupted their conversation and Nick’s raised his gaze to the bald man, “I’m sorry about this,” Nick didn’t get to ask what it was for Aaron touched his forehead and the mortal man felt a wave of sleepiness and unconsciousness fall over him.

“Thank you, Aaron,” Bishop Long nodded to him.

“Of course,” Aaron replied as he came up to the religious man, “Now what can I help you with?”

“Hold, Zak.”

“But you said-?”

“I know,” Bishop Long nodded, “But you are no mortal, Aaron. I could tell as soon as I met you and Zak, here.”

“ _They’re angels_ ,” the demon inside Zak replied with a smirk, “ _And don’t you dark touch me, Aaron. I don’t care if you’re God’s favorite. I will harm you.”_

Aaron simply leered at the other man, “ _And I can harm you just as easily, demon,”_ he placed his hands upon Zak’s shoulders and the demon hissed, “Okay, Bishop.”

Bishop Long cleared his throat and placed the cross above Zak’s head, “Zak, if you can hear me in there-.”

“ _He can’t hear you_!” Zak taunted.

“I want you to use your power, as much as you have left stored after your Fall. God will understand and allow this time for it to slip,” he dismissed the demon’s comment, “Ready, Aaron?” the angel nodded and closed his eyes, pushing his power through his hands and into Zak’s body; the energy pulsated through his angelic body.

“From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord, that Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty: we beseech Thee to hear us!” Bishop Long called out the last prayer and Zak began to scream and it wasn’t a mocking sound, but _true_ pain, “That Thou may crash down all enemies of Thy Church!”

“ _NO!”_ Zak screamed.

Aaron’s knuckles turned white as he continued to lend Zak his power, “We beseech Thee to hear us!”

“ _NO!”_ Zak shrieked and his inhuman tone transformed into his mortal voice with the same hint of divinity that he always had within it. His screams fell silent and he slouched forward in his seat. Aaron’s grasp loosened on his best friends shoulders, but did not let go; Bishop Long, however, leaned back on his feet, trying to regain his strength.

“Zak?” Aaron called out softly, but the other man did not respond, “Zak! Answer me, Goddamn it!”

“Zak?” Bishop Long called out softly.

Aaron looked at the priest, “Why isn’t he answering?”

Bishop Long didn’t know.

Suddenly, Nick gave a groan from the floor in pain and, like Zak was awake for the whole thing and was simply playing a game, the older man stood up fast as lighting. His black, silky wings burst forth from his back, tearing his black shirt to ribbons. Aaron and Bishop Long gasped; the immortal fell backwards as the wings pushed him away. Zak fell to the floor before the mortal man, wrapping his arms around him.

“Zak!” Aaron called out as he got up from the dusty floor, “Your wings! Nick!”

Zak hissed angrily at the other angel and Aaron noticed that those round, mortal-looking eyes had disappeared. In their place were velvet blue, slit eyes like a predator protecting their prey, “ _Mea Alterum!”_

Aaron’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at Zak’s words. He could hardly believe what he had heard. Nick moaned again in pain and snuggled closer into the older man’s chest. Zak’s hiss turned to a gentle purr.

“What’s happening, Aaron?” Bishop Long looked in at the scene.

“We need to separate them,” Aaron formed a plan, “You grab Nick and I’ll grab Zak. I need to turn him back.”

“Why? What’s happening to him?”

Aaron turned to look at Bishop Long, “This is the side of angels that the Bible doesn’t tell you, James Long. This is our primitive side, the side that survives, the animalistic side to our divinity. I need your help,” and the priest did not need to be told twice.

Quickly, the two men rushed forward, Aaron pulling Zak away from Nick and Bishop Long plucking the younger man from the fallen angels’ embrace. Zak growled and screeched, pulling at Aaron’s arms as the younger angel whispered softly in the older one’s ear, “ _Revorsio, Revorsio, Revorsio, Revorsio,”_ over and over again he repeated “Return, return, return, return, return” like a prayer and it was answered.

“Nick,” Zak murmured as his eyes lay heavy in their sockets when he awoke from the haze of _ethereal conjunctione animarum_.

“It’s me,” Aaron replied back.

Zak hummed, leaned back against the younger man, “Aaron, is he okay? Does he know?”

Aaron looked over at Bishop Long who stood above the said man Zak was speaking about. He was fast asleep, “No.”

“Good,” Zak hummed, “Not yet, not yet, not yet…,” the fallen angel loss consciousness, slumping backwards into his angelic friends awaiting arms.


	16. | Chapter 12 | Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning after the possession on the way to their hotel and within Zak's room.

            All three of them were silent as they packed their things up in the van and drove away from Hell’s Gate. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon of black, Kentucky trees. There’s something new about these types of mornings when the light is barely reaching out from night. The stars have faded, running once again across the sky in their never ending chase of the moon.

            Nick is driving, as he always is, with the heavy daze and confusion of the rest of Zak’s exorcism still substantial from his mind. Now, the loud elephant in the back seat was Aaron who was completely asleep with his mouth wide and his arms wrapped tightly around himself like some security blanket. Nick cracked a smile at the sight, he could never forget what the other man looks like when he asleep, but nothing could compare to the sight of the man sitting next to him.

            Zak was asleep, too, with his head placed in the juncture of the headrest and the side of the car with his mouth opened as he snores softly, but he wasn’t loud like Aaron. To Nick, he looked like he had been through Hell and back with his disheveled hair and light scars from the cross scattered on his face that, even now, were slowly fading. Whatever had happened to him during the exorcism sure took a lot of energy out of him, but, there was a beauty to the man as his skin, pale as it already was, glowed in the five o’clock morning light.

            Nick turned back to look at the road, trying to remember the way back to their cheap hotel. A sudden memory flashes in his mind, his thoughts trying to recall what had happened. It’s those same black wings, shiny and darker than night that he has seen _so_ many times. He swerves across the road as their blinding in his mind’s eye and Zak is startled awake by the screeching of tires on pavement, though Aaron is still sleeping peacefully like a baby in the backseat. Nothing could ever wake that man up it seemed.

            “Shit, bro!” Zak curses, eyes wide awake now, hands clutching at the leather handles, “Are you alright? Do you need me to drive?”

            Nick takes a careful breath, reminding himself to focus on the driving, “No, I’m fine.”

            Zak sighs, letting lose all the tension, and shifted comfortably back into seat, “Alright, just let me know if you need to switch.”

            “Yea, thanks, Zak,” Nick replies and quickly adds, “I am going the right direction, right?”

             Zak nods with a yawn, covering it quickly with the palm of his hand, “Yea.”

            Nick’s eyes narrow in quickly on those longer fingers that seem almost too perfect to be true. He knows most woman would find so many dirty analogies to put with them and Nick thinks about all of them, especially the way they wrap around his- _Stop it Nick!_ His mind yells at him as those metaphors cross hid mind and he tears his gaze away back to the road.

            But, he suddenly remembers what someone once told him, though he can’t remember who: “ _Every man has a beast inside of them. Men hold them back, but when they find someone, someone worth their heart, mind, and soul, they release it.”_

            He’s curious as he looks at back at Zak Bagans with new light. _What’s yours like? Did you expect me to fall to my knees, or will you rip my shirt to pieces? Will you bruise my lips and whisper in my ear your sweet, heavenly words_ , he thinks to himself.

            He knows it goes against his religion to find other men intoxicating. It was wrong. It went against everything he was ever taught and everything that the Bible ever said. Leviticus, in the King James Bible, said _“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.”_

            But, he hasn’t exactly been going to church every Sunday.

            Instead, he’s been walking amongst ghosts; walking through hell and not heaven. He’s seen things that people in his church back in New England would never ever get to see or could they ever comprehend. Nick doesn’t care anymore about the bullshit they devour every Sunday morning from the priests mouth. He’s seen too much and felt too much: the abandoned buildings with their crying walls, the “normal” houses with their torture chambers, and the wailing of enchanted forests.

            His mind flashes to the night of the blood falling from the ceiling of his living room and how it was the main reason why he became so religious. _Maybe,_ Nick thinks, _the paranormal can turn you away from God to_. It surely would explain the arousal shooting through his body and the hammering of mortal heart in his chest. He shivers as a hot spike of want travels across his muscles and bones like liquid fire.

            All the reasons why he desires the older man flood his mind and all the memories he had with the man – the main one being the Goldfield Hotel where they spent an entire night completely alone a couple years ago; he could still remember how Zak’s hand molded to his like they were cut from the same marble stone by the ancient Greeks.

            From the corner of his eye, Nick watches as Zak’s gaze glances at him for a second, sending his heart into a massive frenzy.

             _Shit_ , he thinks, _I’m in so deep_.

†††֎†††֎†††

            The persistent knocking at the door was a hammer to his drowsy-filled mind and the fallen angel groaned as it came again, burying his throbbing head into the fresh pile of pillows that he accumulated on his bed. His leg rose up on the bed in instinct, the cool sheets soothing his hot flesh. He sighed as a shiver raced across his body, chilling his skin. Zak tried to fall back asleep, but then that _damned_ knocking came again, bringing him out of his slumber. He moaned this time at the loss of seconds for him to sleep.

            “Zak!”

            “Go away, Aaron,” he mumbled, but with his pillows slurring his words, it came out only as a few vocal syllables.

            “Zak!”

            Zak cried out in annoyance and slowly he flung his sheets off of his body. The cool hotel air conditioner relieving his skin of the hot fever he had. He would have the hot flash for a couple more hours as his divinity swept through his blood stream and his mind, clearing whatever residue was left over from the demonic possession. He hated it when those spawn of Lucifer attacked his kind.

            In response, he felt the harsh push of distant memories in his skull, but he refused to let them come to the surface. He didn’t want to be reminded of the War. He didn’t want to hear those inhuman screams of agony as his fellow angels were burnt alive and reborn, only to be killed again. He didn’t want to hear those voices in his head, speaking over each other from miles away and slithering like snakes. Even now, some thousand years later, Zak could still feel those memories like they were yesterday and he tried so hard to ignore them.

            “Zak!” his angelic companion called out again from the other side of the door, pounding on it like some mad man, “If you don’t open up, I’m going to break down the door!” and Zak knew that he would do that.

            “Alright! Alright!” Zak yelled out and clumsily got up off the nice… warm… comfortable… warm… warm… warm… bed.

            Zak yawned.

            “Come on, man!” Aaron cried out, “Open the door!”

            “I’m coming, I’m coming!” he whined as he grasped the chain on the hotel door and unlocked it. Aaron burst through the door like a bone-picking bull, “Well, come in, why don’t ya?” Zak rolled his eyes tiredly and closed the door. He yawned again, leaning against the wooden frame.

            Aaron turned around to look at him, “Dude, you look like shit.”

            Zak rolled his eyes again, “Well, thank you for the _nice_ comment,” he made his way into the bathroom as he continued to talk. He needed to take a shower, “Just what a guy needs,” he yawned once more, “…right after he’s been possessed.”

            “Seriously, dude,” Aaron called out from the bedroom, “You look like shit.”

            Zak closed the door between the shower and the sink area, leaving a crack open so he could still hear Aaron, “Are you just going to continue to stand there or do you have a purpose for being here?” He reached for his shirt, but all he felt was bare skin. He looked down at himself in alarm, he was definitely awake now, “And _why the fuck didn’t you tell me I was naked?_ ”

            Aaron laughed, “Dude, Zak, I see you naked all the time at home. You’re not the only one who wishes they could un-see some things in that apartment,” the sudden sound of the TV coming on startled him; the channels whizzing pass each other quickly.

            Zak growled, mumbling a few _choice_ words beneath his breath as he walked over to the shower and fumbled around on the nobs for the right temperature, “Why are you here, Aaron? Obviously, you don’t want a floor show!” he called out teasingly to the other man. He reached out to the water to test its temp and, when he was met by a warm stream of liquid, he stepped into the porcelain shower.

            The TV suddenly turned off and he could hear the soft tread of Aaron’s footsteps coming toward the bathroom door, “I want to talk about last night with you.”

            Zak sighed, throwing his head back as he allowed the warm water to wash over his sweaty hair and broad, upper shoulders, “What about last night?”

            “Well,” Aaron drawled out, “There are some things that went wrong.”

            Zak froze for a second, glancing at the edge of the curtain, before returning to his task of grabbing the shampoo/conditioner mixture and cleaning his hair, “What do you mean?”

            “What do you remember?”

            “Just the beginning where I was fighting off the demon, the priest touching the cross to my skin, and the very end where I was talking to you, but I can’t remember what I said,” Zak called back and leaned back into the water to rinse his scalp of the soap gunk in his hair. He was feeling refreshed and regenerated already.

            “So, you don’t remember anything before we spoke?”

            “No, Aaron,” Zak sighed in exhaustion and he stood underneath the light pounding of the shower, allowing it to sooth his aching muscles.

            “Okay,” Aaron simply said and Zak heard him walking away.

            Growing angry at being teased like that, Zak growled, “Aaron, get in here! What happened?”

            Aaron quickly walked back into the bathroom and through the door separating the sink and shower. He knew better than to risk the wrath of his best friend, “I don’t think you want to know, bro.”

            Zak gave another exasperated sigh and peeked out from behind the shower curtain at the angel. Aaron stood in the middle of the small room, eyes bowed down in shame or respect, Zak didn’t know. He wore a heavy metal band shirt and a pair of regular jeans, the normal attire for a long day on the road back to Las Vegas, “You brought the subject up, so tell me.”

            Aaron looked up at the older angel, brown eyes a mix of emotions, “Your _Angelus_ came out, Zak,” the younger man watched as Zak froze in his spot, the only sound was the harsh splatter of water bouncing off Zak’s right shoulder blade and the bottom of the tub.

            “What?”

            Aaron nodded, “I had to knock out Nick during the last part of your exorcism. It was the only way of keeping our secret,” he justified and Zak took everything in patiently like religion and gospel, “After Bishop Long said the last line of the prayer, you were silent. No signs that you were even alive, Zak,” the older man could see the horror the younger man felt at having almost lost him in those brown eyes of his. He personally knew what that felt like, “But, Nick made a groan of pain and you-,” his hands fumbled through the air as he tried to convey the right words, “Your _Angelus_ appeared. You rushed toward him, full wingspan.”

            Zak’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, “What?”

            “I tried to contact you by mentioning how Nick didn’t know our secret and we couldn’t risk him knowing it, but you started hissing. Your eyes, Zak!” Aaron cried out, “They were slits!”

            Zak could hardly comprehend everything that Aaron was telling him. He tried to justify it and prove Aaron wrong by saying, “It was nothing, Aaron,” he leaned back in the shower, closing the curtain between him and the other angel, “Probably just some left over energy from the exorcism.”

            “You called him _Mea Alterum_ , Zak.”

            Zak, once again, froze. Blue eyes locked into their position on the shower wall, observing the way the water droplets flowed down the white skin.

            Did he really call Nick _Mea Alterum_?

            “Why would you do that, Zak?” Aaron cried out, “You know God is going to disapprove. Why test His power _again_?”

            “Leave me!” Zak growled, interrupting the younger angel and sending out a shockwave of energy in his words.

            “What?” Aaron was startled by the sheer power vibrating in the air toward him.

            “Get out!” Zak yelled, “ _Leave me alone_!”

            “Okay! Okay! I’m going!” Aaron gave in, “But, we’re leaving in two hours. I’m going to go wake Nick up. Be ready-.”

            “ _Non tanget eum_ (Do not touch him),” Zak barely realized the words coming out his mouth and the younger angel did not seem to hear him.

            The fallen angel shook his head, the dangerous, blue slits disappearing into the calm, mortal-looking ones. When he heard the door to his hotel room slam shut, his body fell against the side wall of the shower. His mind felt like it was spinning in circles and his heart pounded in his chest.

            Why would he call Nick _Mea Alterum_?

            ‘ _Because he is more than your friend,’_ his mind seemed to reply for him and he found they spoke truth.

            Zak raised his hand to his shoulder and began to rub at the hard muscle beneath his skin as the shower pounded the area as well. He could feel his stiffness diminish and the light ruffle of his feathers beneath his touch. Continuing to work at his skin, he thought about the young, mortal man he called his best friend.

            There was something about him, ever since they first met back in Vegas at that hotel – whatever it was called. The mortal had been sitting all alone at the end of that bar with what seemed to be the whole weight of the mortal world on his back. Zak would admit that he found the mortal attractive as guys finding each other attractive in the weight room at a gym – with his looks, he could get most girls. He wondered what had changed between them.

            Quickly, knowing his pesky, angelic partner would return soon with his persistent knocking, Zak turned the shower off and stepped out of the tub, the humid air wafting around him. He grabbed the white, starched towel and patted himself down; throwing the towel to the floor, he exited the bathroom, the cool air causing his skin to prickle and his hair to stand up.

            The knocking came again, but Zak could tell it wasn’t Aaron. He froze in his spot as a light scent floated in from under the door. He recognized it immediately and his _Angelus_ , it seemed, did too, for Zak could feel it crawl across his mind. In the mirror before him on the wall, he saw his mortal-looking blue eyes change to slits.

            “Zak?”

            The fallen angel gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes, control rushing through his veins.

            The mortal knocked again.

            “Zak? Are you there?”

            Zak opened his eyes and, in the mirror, he could see that the slits had disappeared. He smiled slightly before responding to the younger male, “Yea, I’m here. What’s up?”

            “Can I come in?” Nick asked through the door, “I want to talk to you about something.”

            Zak looked down at himself; he was still naked, “Ummm… Hang on a moment,” he scrambled for _at least_ a pair of sweats, “I… ummm… just got out of the shower.”

            “Oh,” Nick sounded slightly surprised with a hint of nervousness beneath it, “Yea, I can wait.”

            His blue eyes landed on a pair of black sweats hanging out of the dresser and he scrambled across the room for them. Grabbing the pants, he pulled them on quickly and dashed for the door.

            Opening it, his eyes landed on the mortal and he felt something stir in the recesses of his mind. It made him nervous; it made his heart beat so fast, it made him feel like a quivering mess of… emotions?

 _Why did this mortal make him feel this way_ , he helplessly thinks.

            “Hey, Zak,” Nick replied, his voice sounding sort of out of breath.

            “Nick,” his voice was a gemini to Nick’s.

            “Can I come in?” he asked again, snapping himself from the daze he had, “I don’t particularly think this conversation is for the public’s ears.”

            “Oh, yea,” he stepped back to allow the younger man room, “Come in, come in, come in.”

            Nick passed the angel, his scent rolling across the air to him, and Zak was having a hard time controlling his _Angelus_ once again. Zak closed the door behind him, turning to look at the mortal, but refusing to move from his spot at the door in case he needed a quick getaway and, with the way his _Angelus_ was fluttering in his mind, it made him very nervous.

            “What did you need to talk about?”

            “Last night.”

            A million thoughts scurried across his mind as he thought about what Nick could possibly say. According to the gospel of Aaron, Nick should not remember a single thing after he was knocked out. This would include the reveal of Aaron and himself as angels, but also of Zak’s “moment.”

            “About that-,” he was just going to go in and start apologizing, figuring Nick had remembered.

            “What happened after I was knocked out, Zak?” Nick interrupted, so Zak’s guesses that he doesn’t know, “Aaron refuses to tell me anything.”

            “Umm, Nick,” Zak raises his hand to his neck, rubbing at the muscles there, “I don’t think I am the best person to be asking that,” he lied through his teeth so easily, “I’m still trying to figure things out.”

            “Oh,” Nick sounded disappointed and Zak’s _Angelus_ crawled in his mind to grasp the mortal in his arms, “Well, what do you remember?”

            Zak sighed and tore his gaze away from the soft brown eyes of Nick, he couldn’t continue to lie to the man like this, “It’s just a hazy dream really. I remember bits and pieces. Aaron and you standing to the side and Bishop James standing above me and his cross burning into my skin,” he wasn’t really lying, but those words were sending a flood of emotions through his mind and he couldn’t stop the shaky breath escaping his lips, “Nick,” his gaze rose to the younger mans, “I can still feel it.”

            Without thinking, Nick rushed toward the older man and hugged him. Zak froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around the mortal’s waist. Anyone who looked on at the pair of them could see that the way they hugged each other, the way they spoke to each other?

            Well, they stared at each other a little longer than friends should…


	17. Trailer #2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooo sorry about my absence. My computer was broken and I could not post my chapters. Will be posting new one later today!


	18. Part Three

"When angels visit us,

we do not hear the rustle of wings,

nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove;

but we know their presence

by the love they create in our hearts."

\- Unknown


	19. | Chapter 13 | Brethren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zak falls from Heaven and Aaron and him begin their Task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIME JUMP- but backwards. This chapter just gives detail into the background of Zak and Aaron’s friendship and their lives as immortals in a mortal world before the 21st Century. They are not friends in this beginning part, not until later.
> 
> \--> Some things have changed to fit story plot and characterization and are NOT historically accurate <\--

**_Fall of the Wall of Jerusalem_ **

**_July 1099 A.D._ **

The ground shook and the sky thundered, crying flaming arrows. Blood hung in the air, but the rotting stench of flesh was revolting. Jerusalem lay in the desert as a pile of rubble as the Christians and the Muslims battled for who would rule over the Holy City, slaying all in their path. It was a harsh, bloody war, but it paid off in the end to whoever the victor would be.

The walls around Jerusalem fell, the noise so loud that the Christians were sure God heard it and the Muslims were sure that all their prophets and Allah heard it. But, above in the blue sky, two bright comets streamed across it. Neither sides, however, took part in noticing the odd scene and continued to slay each other, drowning themselves in blood and pride.

One comet slowed down its descent to earth, while the other continued its speedy path for one of the chapels in the Holy City head on. It crashed into the hard rock dome like a boulder thrown from a catapult, splintering the stone. Within the chapel, a substantial pile of rubble laid and a small ditch formed in the center of the room. Suddenly, the stones began to move and from their confinements, a raven haired man struggled to crawl out of his stone prison. The other comet from above followed the same path, but disappeared slowly next to the rubble. The raven haired man stopped what he was doing and looked up at the bright ball of light, which vanished into the air around it to reveal a tall, bald man with a pair of white wings stretched wide behind him.

The raven haired man hissed loudly, fangs stretched out in warning to the bald man, " _Irrumabo_ _q_ _uid vis?_ (What the fuck do you want?)"

The bald man stared down at him, noticing a angry and bloody wound zigzagging down his face, a symbol of his Fall, " _Nos socii, Zak, et ego vobis opem_ (We're partners, Zak, and I'm helping you)," it was partners in the friend sense, too, for they _were_ just that before the other angel fell.

The raven haired man, Zak, simply growled, and angrily tore at the stone surrounding him, " _Stupri non opus auxilio_ _, Aaron,_ _nec Dei_ (I don't need your fucking help, Aaron, nor God's)."

Aaron, the winged man, simply sighed and turned on his heel, " _Denique_ _!_ _N_ _on vis facere Deum dicam tamen. Et ita dicam gravius faciam in te et eiciam vos de Caelo_ (Fine! I'll tell God you don't want to do it after all. I can tell you He will be so pleased with you and will do worse than throw you from Heaven)," he sarcastically said as he made his way for the door, still intact from Zak's fall, planning his return back to Heaven with the news.

Zak hissed again loudly, " _Probe!_ _Accede ad me et ferte praesidium, mitte quem missurus es_ (Fine! Come here and help me, please!)!"

Aaron turned around, a smirk of triumph on his face. Raising his hand, a pulsing ball of light appeared and floated across to Zak. It expanded and surrounded the older man. Slowly, Zak rose from the stone debris like a doll dangling from a child's fingers, but Aaron lowered his hand causing the bubble to pop and drop Zak unceremoniously to the floor.

He snarled, fangs elongated, " _Scis certe potuisses dum eram in area_ (You know you could have at least waited till I was on the floor)."

Aaron chuckled as Zak brushed himself off, the white fabric of Heaven stained black and dusty from the stones, " _Suspendisse_ _u_ _bi est_ (Where's the fun in that?)?"

Zak simply grumbled some few choice words in Latin and brushed past the angel. Glancing back, he barked, " _Scis? Non tu saltem experiri in pleno non ungeris angeli_ (You know? You could at least try to not rub it in that you are a full angel?)?"

" _Quis est, qui non in culpa?_ (And who's fault is it that you are not?)"Aaron fired back as he walked behind the other man, but they were the wrong words to say to an angel that had just fallen from Heaven.

Zak, anger rushing through his veins, turned on Aaron quickly, pushing the angel back into the painted wall of the biblical scene of Jesus being baptized by John. Aaron felt the air leave his lungs as the fallen angel pressed hard against his chest, " _Nullam stupri quid dicis!_ (You have no fucking idea what you are talking about!) _Per rationem stupri Nullam quis fuerim!_ (You have no fucking idea what I have been through) _Nullam stupri quid possum facere vobis!_ (You have no fucking idea what I can do to you!)"

Aaron hissed back like a snake, " _Eas partes minimi preti stercore!_ (Bring it, you worthless piece of shit!) _Scio quid feceris!_ (I know exactly what you did!) _Tibi tradidit Dominus sperent? Dignus es gressu_ _T_ _erram!_ (You betrayed God's trust! You deserve to walk on Earth!)"

Zak's blue eyes grew into slits, pure power radiating from his gaze, and from his back, a pair of shiny, _black_ wings appeared, " _Nullam dicens quid tu? Quae non fecitâ€¦ Vivo ego in eo, Aaron_ (You have no idea what you are saying! The things I did! I have to live with it, Aaron!)!"

" _Es a timido!_ (You're a coward)"

With those words Zak pulled away from Aaron with a sigh, looking down at the ground and back up at the other angel who started at him in confusion, " _Ego sum. Ego autem vecors! (_ I am. I am a coward)," but his soft words were nothing as the harsh Latin began to fall from his lips, " _Pugnandi ignavus sum fratribus meis._ (I'm a coward for fighting with my brothers and sisters.) _Iners sum de Lucifero cadendi linguam nequam._ (I am a coward for falling to Lucifer's wicked tongue.) _Quos ego diligo in ignavo convertendi_ _._ (I am a coward for turning against the ones I love.) _Ego ignave Aaron_ _!_ (I am a coward, Aaron!) _Ego opus ad supplicium!_ (I need to be punished!) _Proice super me verba vestra!_ (Throw your words at me!) _Ledo me!_ (Hit me!)" He screamed at the angel, " _Ledo me,_ _Aaron!_ (Hit me, Aaron!)" His blue eyes were terrible, " _Suus 'non amo animus meus non satis!_ (It's not like my mind isn't enough!)"

Aaron had no words for the confession Zak announced. He would admit he hadnâ€™t thought about what the other angel was going through and now he knew and now he was sad, "Zak? _Me paenitet ..._ (I'm sorry)"

Zak gave a disgusted sigh, " _Quod tibi placet_ (whatever)."

" _Serio_ (Seriously)!" he was persistent, " _Ego sum paenitet!_ (I am sorry!)"

Zak's gaze fell to the opening in the roof he had made and mumbled to himself, but Aaron couldn't hear what he was saying. At last, the other angel turned to him, " _Sed videtur conglutinata erant super terram. Sic et vos mecum?_ (Well, it seems like we're stuck together on this Earth. So, are you with me?)"

Aaron grew a wicked smile, " _Ita vero!_ (Oh yes!)"

The months ahead of them would be hard as they traveled with a band of Crusaders, the True Cross beside them. Zak would admit that he was surprised that they found it, but the location of the wooden cross that Christ was nailed to would be lost with time. At last, they came to England and there they stayed; the two of them exorcising any ghosts and demons they came across and moving from village to village, every couple years, once their age started to become a problem.

The years continued to roll on, and they're real adventures began. It was the year of 1600 and they found a small village by the name of Stour Valley. Peaceful as it was, a growing suspicion formed around them:

"Two men?"

"I heard they were living together."

"Something is not right about them."

"I've seen green smoke billow from their chimney."

They were the topic of side-street gossip for several years and Zak grew weary. Though the two angels had formed an unbreakable friendship, Aaron was irresponsible and arrogant when it came to their immortality and purpose on Earth. Zak had to control him on several occasions and lie and Aaron was sometimes the reason why they were moving so often. And this time was only different because Aaron, unintentionally, started the chain of events that would lead to the Salem Witch Trials in the New World- wiccaphobia.

It was a normal day in their small village, the burning smell of smoking pig flesh hung in the air along with manure. Though Zak hated it when they first arrived, he grew use to it and could barely smell it now. The day was bright, blue, and shining. _A good day,_ Zak thought as he worked in the kitchen, hands chopping leaves and flowers into a healing potions for Aaron, who was clumsy and Zak could barely take him anywhere without him tripping over _something_.

Suddenly, the said man came rushing in through the front door, body clothed in normal 1600's attire and covered in mud and _hopefully_ not manure. Zak stared at Aaron with a look of confusion for the later man's eyes were wide and fearful. No angel was ever supposed to feel that way when it came to these simple mortals.

"Aaron, what-?" Zak started.

"Run, Zak!" Aaron cried and dashed for a cloth bag, hands flickering across bottles and throwing them into the bag, "You need to run."

"What's going on, Aaron?" Zak stopped what he was doing and rushed toward the angel.

Just as Aaron was about to respond, a loud knocking noise came from the door and both angels froze, "Open up, witch!"

"Witch?" Zak glanced back at Aaron, "What's going _on_ , Aaron?"

Aaron stopped what he was doing, hand clutching one of the bottles of medicine that the fallen angel had carefully prepared only a day ago, "What part of 'you need to run' don't you understand?"

"We know you're in there!" the man outside called out in a sing-song voice.

Zak narrowed his blue eyes at the other angel, "Answer me, please, Aaron and then we'll leave."

"No, Zak," Aaron sighed in defeat as he rushed about their small cottage to pack food and clothes, "It will be-."

The harsh knocking came back followed by a man's angry voice, "Open up or we'll set fire to your roof and flush you out, witch!"

Zak was fed up with all of this and, growling deeply in anger as his _Angelus_ came to the surface of his conscious, he rushed at his companion, pinning him to the table. His hands were clutching at Aaron's shirt as his knuckles turned white, "Tell me," he spoke forcefully, "What is going on?"

Aaron blinked as he stared at the fallen angel, deciding whether or not to tell him the truth. He gave in quickly, "I showed my wings and used magic."

"Torch it!" the angry voice came again.

"What?" the word was sharp in Zak's mouth.

"I'm sorry, Zak-."

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed in their cottage as a flaming torch was thrown through the window and crashed into the table behind Zak, shattering the pottery and glass jars on top of it. Zak jumped away from Aaron at the sound his blue eyes glancing out the window at the small group of people gathered. Another flamed torch burst through the window, coming straight toward Zak. He shifted to the side with inhuman speed, the flame crashing into the table he had pinned Aaron to.

"Zak! What are we going to do?" Aaron called out above the noise of wood catching fire and the cracking of the hay on the roof.

"Run, Aaron," Zak whispered softly as he raced around their burning house to gather last minute necessities, "We're going to go to London and catch a boat."

Aaron stood helpless as his fallen angel comrade grabbed things, "Where are we going?"

Zak stopped and looked out the window, more people seemed to gather and surround them, "The new world."

A male voice from outside called out to them, "Last chance, witches! Confess your betrayal to God or burn with your Devil!"

Zak laughed at the irony and called back to the man through the window, "I've already burned in hell, mortal!"

"Zak!" Aaron hissed, rushing toward the older angel, "What are you doing?"

Zak turned back to look at the other angel with a sneaky smirk, "Let's show them who they're messing with and get out of here!" he rushed toward the door, bag swung onto his shoulder.

Aaron sighed nervously and glanced upward, their burning roof filtering pieces of ash and straw down on them, "Forgive us, Father," and followed the fallen angel out of their burning cottage.


	20. | Chapter 14 | Fluttering Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time skip to Season 5 – 2011 – “Letchworth Village” - Billy and Jay do not appear in this episode on the show, but I wanted to introduce them in the fanfic. Did you think I forgot about them? :P  
> Thought this would be a good episode to write about Zak and Nick getting… closer ;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue was taken from the Letchworth Village episode and Aaron's Vlogs.

_New York City, New York_

They arrived in the Big Apple on the last flight in before the hurricane hit. The whole city was calm and none of the crew had ever seen it so. Grey clouds flew over the buildings, skyscrapers cutting through the mist like a warmed knife to butter. _It's magnificent_ , Nick Groff thought as he stared out the glass panel from his window perch.

Zak Bagans had booked the largest penthouse he could find in New York. Little did he know that it was actually more of an apartment, but it completed its purpose of keeping the Crew together. Nick had wondered why his co-investigator wanted them like this. _Maybe he's just worried for our safety_ , Nick mused.

"Nick?"

The sudden voice started Nick's thoughts. Nick snapped his head away from the window and toward the entrance of his room. Zak stood there, his body fitted by a tight black shirt and a pair of equally black jeans. His hair was un-gelled so it was soft, like feathers, against his forehead. Nick smiled in acknowledgement, trying to ignore the feeling of butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"Can I come in?" Zak's blue eyes drifted around Nick, looking everywhere but at him.

"Yea, of course," Nick said as he shifted his legs so they hung over the window ledge toward his bed where Zak had placed himself upon, "What's up, bro?"

"Ummm," Zak looked down at his hands, which fumbled lazily at each other, "I wanted to talk about the new lockdown."

"Letchworth?" the butterflies seemed to be dancing in his stomach.

"Yea," Zak responded and looked up at Nick, their eyes connecting, "It's going to be dangerous, Nick, and I just wanted to make sure you're up to it."

Nick reached out and touched Zak's hand, their fingers sliding through each other like that night at the Goldfield Hotel when they jumped out the window. The mortal tried to ignore just how perfect their hands seemed to be for each other, "We've been through worse, Zak. I'll always be there with you."

Zak smiled, squeezing the fingers in his hand, "Okay. Thank you, G."

"Yea," Nick replied softly, "Is that all you needed to ask?"

Zak seemed a little taken back by Nick's question, being dismissed so quickly, but he recovered with a nod and stood up, "Yea," Nick's gaze fell upon the older man's body, the butterflies bursting into flames of desire, "Oh, G?"

"Yea?" Nick kicked himself mentally with how deep his voice sounded.

Zak's Adam's Apple bobbed for a moment as he looked down at the younger man, "I figure we'll leave tomorrow after the hurricane hits."

"Sounds good, Zak," his voice sounded normal this time.

"Okay," his jeans folding in the right place as he shifted his stance. Nick tore his gaze away and back out the window. He stayed there for a while, but didn't hear the older man again. Nick turned back around to look at the doorway, but all that was there was empty space. Sighing sadly, he lowered his head, his brown gaze distant as he wondered and day dreamed of the past.

â€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ 

**_On the road to Haverstraw, New York_ **

 There were five of them now in their small rental van. No longer were they a golden trio. It happened about a year ago when the Travel Channel decided three was not good enough. Two other men joined them, each with a unique gift in either audio or video. Nick would admit that it was nice having two extra cameras, but he also missed it just being the three of them investigating in haunted places.

"Shit, this is a lot of water," their driver cursed and Nick moved his head around the front passengers seat, which held Zak, and looked out the windshield, the whippers sliding across with mad determination. They had hit the last edge of the hurricane, the rains falling heavily from the Heavens. Nick's gaze fell onto the road, beyond the recording camera mounted on the dashboard.

"It's just amazing. These floods," Zak replies first and there is a nostalgic tone to it that confuses Nick, but he knows that it will be a good sound nonetheless.

"Billy?" Nick asks their driver as a sudden idea reaches his mind, "Can you pull over somewhere? I think we should tape some of the flooding and some sound bites for the intro," he aimed that last part to the fallen angel sitting in the front seat.

Zak nodded in response, which Billy Tolley saw and obeyed his boss by finding an empty spot along the main drag of a town just below their destination. The rain was beginning to slow too into a steady mist which would be perfect for taping the scenes.

The crew jumped out of their rental van, Aaron and Jay Wasley climbing from their nest in the back. Wind whistled in theirs ears and sirens and the rushing of the water were loud beneath it. Nick glanced at Zak noticing the wind ruffling his hair and snapping at his jeans like it was trying to rip them off. The older man balanced on the edge of the sidewalk, a bulky camera in his grasp, and watched the road. When it was clear of impending cars, Zak made a beeline for the grass-covered medium between the roads.

Thought Aaron, Billy, and Jay were playing with each other, like little kids, with the equipment, Nick continued to watch the older man on the medium. Fascination filled his mind by the way the angry storm framed Zak's body.

"Right now!" Nick could hear Zak yell to the camera above the rustling wind, "We're making the one hour trip to Letchworth Village. We're just trying to see how bad it hit just north of the city," Zak turned the camera slightly to the left so his body only took up held the screenshot and the flooded road filled the rest, "Look at all of this water!"

Nick tried to find the differences between Zak Bagans and a hurricane, but he couldn't. They were the same in his mind's eye.

"Hey! Nick!" Aaron placed a hand on his shoulder and brought Nick from his trance and thoughts. The other man looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and piercing eyes, "Bro, are you okay?"

Nick's brown gaze drifted from Aaron to Zak and back to Aaron, "Yea, I'm fine, Aaron. Why?"

"I called out to you," Aaron informed him in a persistent tone that made the information seem like that was how Aaron was going to get the answer he wanted, "But, you didn't respond."

Nick placed a lying smile on his face as he gave his full attention to the angel, "Sorry, bro. Spaced out. What did you need?"

Aaron though was persistent in his interrogation, "Something's wrong, G. Why won't you tell me?"

:Cause there's nothing wrong!" Nick snapped.

Aaron put his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright. Alright. I'll drop it! But, can you do a quick sound bite, too?"  Aaron held up a camera to Nick with soft, puppy-like eyes.

Nick let go of the breath he seemed to be holding and nodded, "Yea, okay," and he grabbed the camera from Aaron's hands, missing the look of confusion that fell upon it as he watched Nick leave.

â€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ 

**_Letchworth Village, Haverstraw, New York_ **

"We're in Haverstraw, New York, to investigate a location that's called the Village of Secrets," Nick tried to frame the other male perfectly within his tiny screen and walk toward him as the later walked away. It was more difficult than one would think. Zak turned back from the building they were walking around, a hallow exoskeleton filled with rotting flesh of the former patients, "That's because this institution here? It didn't want what happened in here to reach the public," Aaron followed closely behind Nick, taping the two of them as extra film so it all just wasn't some long and boring monologue, "This place was Hell," Nick watched Zak turn back to face the building, arms stretched wide as his hands emphasized the building and his point, "Hell confined by _these_ walls."

Zak turned back to face Nick, his blue eyes hard and his voice loud, trying to get his point through the camera to their audience, "We are gonna go in the walls that nobody dares to go so that we can feel the Hell, so that we can communicate with the dark energy that lingers here and hopefully communicate with some of the patients that may be trapped there."

And with that, Zak's long speech to introduce their lockdown location was done and the crew could get down to work.

Nick and Aaron continued to film as they walked alongside the abandoned building. A weird vibe oozed from the walls and Nick could feel it cover every inch of his skin. He shivered, pausing in his steps, and released a shaky breath from his lips.

"This place is fucking creepy," he said, musing to either Aaron or Zak.

Zak heard him and turned around in his spot to look at the mortal man, "Just be ready, Nick. This is going to be a fucked up investigation."

"We've dealt with worse," Aaron, as always, tried to provide a more light-hearted way to look at their situation. Zak nodded in response, knowing what the other angel meant as his mind flashed to Bobby Mackey's and to the 1910's and a pretty brunette woman floating above a candle before Aaron and Zak.

Nick chuckled, "I don't know. I think this takes the cherry."

As quickly as Zak agreed with Aaron's comment, he changed to agreeing with Nick, which Aaron found humorous as something clicked in his mind, but that was for another time to explain.

Hours later, night had fallen over Letchworth Village and Nick found his heart fluttering at a thousand beats per second. Something was going to happen during this investigation. He could feel it throbbing in his veins and shaking in his soul, sending his sensitivity into overdrive. Nick smirked- taking it as a good sign. He couldn't wait for the lockdown to begin.

â€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ ÖŽâ€ â€ â€ 

**_9:07 p.m._ **

"This is a location that is definitely intimidating by its history and from what goes on in this place," those piercing, possessive-blue eyes looked at Nick's through the camera screen, "Not just when it was in operation, but now that it sits abandoned," Nick watched Zak look behind him at the foreboding entrance to the building, vines and graffiti crawling out of the black hole. Zak turned back to look at Nick, "It's everything but abandoned," which he was right with. Nick could feel the same presence from earlier oozing from the building, but it was now ten times stronger.

Zak Bagans raised his hands to his face, snapping on his respiration to his face to protect his lungs from the dust for he did end up contracting asthma during the Second World War. Aaron and Nick had smaller versions of his, but both men wore it for different reasons. The two walked into the foreboding building, leaving Billy and Jay to lock them in and return to their van to monitor their movements.

Nick chuckled as he took in the surroundings, which were barely lit by their cameras on board lights, "This is a true _Ghost Adventures_ lockdown," Zak turned to look at the younger man as he spoke, Aaron watching from the side at their interaction- he seemed to be right so far in this thinking, "Dirty, raw, and just the three of us locked down."

"Like old times," Zak smiled with nostalgia glowing from it.

"Yea," Nick replied softly.

Suddenly, a wave of pulsating energy ran through all three of their bodies. Aaron practically jumped out of his pants as he felt it and he began to let loose a whole string of profanity that would have to be beeped out later.

"Fucking hell! What the fuck was that?" he cursed.

"I don't know," Zak replied and the three fell into the ease of ghost hunting as Zak took the lead, "But let's get the thermal camera out," Zak turned to look at Nick's camera, once more speaking to it with a strong and sturdy voice, "We know we're here for one reason."


	21. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi everyone!  
  
If you are wondering, no I have not abandoned this work. I was working on this fic on my computer and saved it on a flash drive. The flash drive broke and for the past five months I have been trying to get it to someone who can fix it. I'm hoping that I did not lose everything on it, as that would mean rewriting several chapters and notes that I took. In addition, I would have lost several other possible NAK fics to share with you all.   
  
As soon as I get it back and *fingers crossed* hopefully with all the data, I will update this work once again. If not, then it will be another long wait for updates as I type it all up again.   
  
I'm sorry for the delay in this work (along with Alpha and The Asylum).   
  
Thanks for being patient!

goddess-of-time-and-magic


End file.
